Ash x Animaniacs
by marc1986
Summary: This is part of a set of stories where Ash travels to various places and learns new things, but one thought will forever haunt him.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

New arrival

"That was an awesome battle, May." A boy with wild black hair said in excitement as he and three others were preparing supper. The person he was talking to was stirring some stew before turning around to answer him.

"It sure was Ash." The girl held her half of the ribbon that they tied for close to her heart. 'I know that we have to leave, but at least this will remain as a reminder of you: my Ash' She thought, not wanting to think that they were a day away from the port that has the boat that will send her and her brother home.

"So, think you'll stay out of trouble without us to bail you out." A small male child questioned Ash with a sly smirk, knowing that this human and trouble went hand in hand.

"Very funny, Max. I can stay out of trouble, and without Team Magma and Team Aqua that just leaves Jessie and James and you know that they are no threat." The trainer said back to the young boy while thinking of how annoying those three were. 'You think after all this time that at least one of them would have the common sense to get out of this business.' He thought, and before he could think of something closer to their group another voice was heard.

"All right I've made the sandwiches and it looks like the stew's ready so let's eat." The final voice was of Brock: former gym leader, womanizer, breeder, and reliable friend.

"Pika pka." A small creature squealed in delight. This creature has been with the one known as Ash since the beginning of it all. The five of them sat down and began eating their meal with small talk, none of them wanted to talk about tomorrow, and after that the five of them along with several other creatures went to sleep. The wind was calm in the night, but one of them could not sleep one wink.

'Why can't I sleep?' He thought angrily as he tossed and turned in his sleeping bag. That didn't help either so he tried to get out of his bag for a while, after that he found a strong tree to lean against and went deeper into his thoughts, 'Is it possible that I would miss May when she goes home?' That thought did sound good, he then looked up thinking that making Poke`mon constellations will help, but when he looked up all he saw was dark. "So much for that idea." He muttered after seeing the sky. The cloud then began to shoot off strange yellow and blue lightning bursts, and out of instinct Ash packed up his things and headed into the forest. "I better make sure everything's okay in there." He said aloud while looking around, but he did not see any forest damage. He checked the area again for any sort of trouble, and saw nothing. 'Maybe I'm just jumpy because Jessie and James haven't attacked since yesterday.' He thought, convincing himself to leave; he was about to until he heard something.

"Nuzleaf nuz." The voice was that of a Nuzleaf, a grass and darkness poke`mon, who was busy picking up berries that have fallen of the trees by the strong winds that were in the morning. The young man smiled at its actions before continuing back to the campsite. No sooner that he had taken his tenth step to camp that the burst truly hit the forest shooting everything.

"I thought it passed." Ash said aloud in disbelief. In that moment he heard a tree limb fall and rushed over as fast as he could. "Is everything okay, is there anyone in danger?" He questioned while scouting around before spotting the Nuzleaf from earlier, the only thing was that he was trying to lift a down tree limb.

"Nuz, leaf nuz nuzleaf." He said, almost trying to coax something while it tried again to lift the over sized branch. After its third attempt the wood in appearance creature sensed something coming and when he turned around he saw the black haired boy who was evading the lightning and heading right at them. When Ash arrived there he knelt down and saw that it was a Gardevoir.

"It's going to be okay." The human said in a soothing tone to the Psychic type as he gently stroked its hair to show that he meant no harm. He stood up and went to work by lifting up the tree limb, but it was too heavy so as soon as it was off the ground Ash said to the creature, "Get going, I don't know how long I can keep it up." The green haired creature followed his request and got to it's feet. The youth let the limb fall down before seeing if those two were alright. "You two better get out of here, what ever this storm is might be dangerous, get to safety." The five foot creature nodded not knowing that there was a blush on its white face, and left with its wood based creature at its heel. When they were out of sight he couldn't help but think, "Gardevoir is a psychic type so why didn't it use that power." He then looked up and added to that outer thought, "Could it be this lightning storm." At that moment one of those strange bolts struck him in the back, but he didn't even feel it. Ash was still in thought of one of the recent psychic creatures that he was startled by a car horn. "Whoa! A car horn? We were no where near a road." He said before carefully following the direction of the sound of the horn, and was surprised of what he saw. "A studio?" He questioned, thinking that he was seeing things, but after rubbing his eyes with it still there he decided to investigate. The first thing that he saw was a small house that he saw on several movies that called it a guard station, there was no one in it so he decided to go on ahead it. He did not know that he was being watched from above.

"YO, Pesto, Squat: check out the new guy. Either of you seen him before?" The voice came from a pigeon with a light blue head. The other voice had a caustios feel to it.

"NO, never seen that guy before. What about you Pesto?" The dark brown feathered bird turned to the one with purple feathers who was sharing his beak with a female pigeon. Feeling daring the bird tried again, "Pesto, did ya hear me. I asked if you seen that guy before?" The only response was a feathered fist to the beak.

"What was that?" Ash questioned as he looked around and only saw some passer-bys walk around. What he didn't seem to notice was that there were two animals trashcan diving to his left.

"Hey Runt, take a look at that guy." A female cat stated to her dimwitted but lovable canine. The big dog, who was under some cardboard boxes, popped his head up to see the dark haired male in question.

"He looks to be a good choice for an owner, definitely definitely good choice." The dog said with a smile before looking back up and questioned, "Don't you think so, Rita?" The feline just stared at the boy for a moment before answering.

"Yes, yes he would Runt." She noticed that the boy seemed to be wondering where he was of the 'lost' expression on his face. The two decide it best to let someone else handle this problem.

'Just where am I?' He thought as he scanned the area for anything that he could familiarize himself with, but nothing. As he was walking around a dark shadow was cast over him, and when he turned he saw a plump security guard.

"Hey, uh…what are you doing here?" The guard said to the boy who seemed to be trespassing on studio property. Ash turned around and saw that the man was eyeing him suspiciously so he decided to answer him as best as he could.

"Hi, my name is Ash Ketchum, I'm sorry I came in here without permission. Is there someone I can talk to find out where I am." He asked in his calm voice and the big gutted man thought about and came out with an answer with that same stutter as before.

"Well, I guess you can talk to my boss: Mr. Plotz." Ash was grateful that this man was being so helpful to a stranger, but it didn't last long as three black blurrs zipped past from behind Ash; as the three blurs went by the monster trainer could have sworn a hand grabbed his but for only an instant. "Sorry, you'll have to find him, I have to chase after those Warners." He said before running as fast as he could, which was impressive at his size, after those blurs. This left the trainer to look around the complex on his own.

'I guess I'll start at that glass building.' He thought and thought to do so after glancing around his immediate area. He entered the building and saw that there were several people in suits. After seeing all the different colors of suits once he saw and went over to what he guessed was the front desk. "Hello. I was wondering if a 'MR. Plotz' was in this building?" He questioned who seemed to be playing solitare on the computer, and not really watching who said it answered back.

"Top floor; it has two big wooden doors, you can't miss it." Ash nodded and decided to take the elevater, since it was one of the quickest ways to get there. He got in and up he went once he got there he saw the doors, but was stopped by the secretary sitting right beside the doors.

"Excuse me, but do you need something?" She asked politely as she stood there staring at the boy. The boy in question just decided the use his direct approach.

"It's nothing big, I just need to tell Mr. Plotz something." He said and let the woman take another look at him, most likely to make sure that he was not lying. After a few moments of inspection the woman finally asked him a innocent question.

"I take you're here for the job that Mr. Plotz has been posting for the past few months." Having a feeling that answering this question was the only was to meet this man, so he had to fib, just this once.

"Yes, yes it is." He said and the secretary motioned for the boy to go on ahead. Ash did so ans was greeted by a BIG office, he saw a desk on the far side of the room and headed over to it. Once he got to the chair in front of the desk he sat down and said aloud.

"Mr. Plotz." He questioned and the chair that had been facing away turned to him revealing a white haired man. The man smiled at Ash and said in almost pure excitement and relief.

"So you answered my ad to catch the Warners?" That was the second time the monster tamer heard that name so he decided to tell this man the truth. After taking a deep breath Ash spoke.

"Actually, Mr. Plotz I didn't come here for any job." This angered the blue suited man very easily.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT HERE FOR THE JOB!" He got off of his chair and walked over to the boy and that was when Ash saw that this man was no bigger than a Charmander.

"Just like I said I am not here for any job, but I really do have something to tell you." Ash said calmly, he was startled by the sudden change in attitude, but after being with Misty he learned to expect mood swings such as that. The CEO of the company stared at him, wanting to yell some more, but for some strange reason couldn't.

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?" He questioned his voice back to normal levels but still annoyed.

"I'll give you the abridged version: I travel around with friends collecting creatures known as Poke`mon and I was about to end another journey when I decided to help out some Poke`mon who were caught in a lightning storm and here I am." Ash stood by the window while he spoke, so he could take a look at all of the strange buildings. Once again Mr. Plotz felt like laughing his head off and sending this youth to a place where straitjackets were a dress code, but there was something that made him keep that comment inside him; just like with most of the actors at this place.

"Very well, but make no mistake if you are going to stay here, at this ilustrius studio, you're going to have to work." He said before taking a few moments to think before continuing, "Tell me, do you enjoy aiding other people without anything in return?" He questioned and Ash could only smile of what the man just said.

"It's what I did back home so why not here." He answered back and looked at the man, but he had to add one other thing, "The only problem is: I don't know this world and I don't have a place to say." This the shorter man answered without much thinking.

"If you are looking for a place to stay there is a pent house on the studio that I don't usually use, so you can use it, but that means that your paycheck will be cut." He said, smiling at the thought of more money to him. He then frowned at the thought of that money being used on repairs from damage from the Warners. Plotz got out of his train of thought before going over to his desk and wrote down the address then he handed it over to the boy. "Here is the address, and I will introduce you to the others soon enough." Ash took the paper and headed to the door, but as soon as the door was open he turned back and said in a sincere tone.

"Mr. Plotz sorry, but I forgot to introduce myself: my name is Ash Ketchum." The CEO decided that it was only fair to return the courtesy on his part.

"My full name is Thaddeus Plotz but please call me Mr. Plotz." The trainer nodded and said one last thing before heading out.

"All right, I'll see you in the morning then." He walked away, and began his search for the pent house he spoke of. As he was looking around he also saw a lot of other people around, but they seemed busy so he left them alone. He often saw glimpses of the security guard running around, 'I guess he's still chasing what ever it was that ran by.' He thought as he went back to looking for his temporary home. When the trainer finally did find it, night already took hold of the sky so he went to sleep on the couch still fully clothed. 'I really hope I know what I have gotten myself into this time.' He thought before letting his body become one with the dream plane.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Introductions…and maybe more

"Here we go again: another hectic day." Plotz said with great misery in his tone as he entered his office. He lounged in his big comfy chair thinking of what kind of hectic those three: the Warner siblings will do today. He then thought of the boy that appeared just yesterday. 'I guess it is best if the others were to know of Ash.' He thought and then walked out of his office to talk to his secretary. The talk was dubbed down to get all of the others to get to the auditorium.

"Oh man, that had to have been one of the best sleeps I have ever had." Ash said as he got up to stretch. He looked around to try to find his friends and creatures only to come up empty. Reality hit him suddenly as he remembered that he had been transported to an unknown location. 'That's right; I'm in a studio on a different world.' The trainer thought before looking around his apartment which was pretty sweet. "This place is great!" He exclaimed to the walls. When the trainer was about to check out the kitchen the phone rang and on the second ring he answered it. "Hello?" He questioned and readied for an answer.

"Ash, Mr. Plotz requests your arrival in the Warner Brothers Auditorium in one hour." The secretary said in a polite tone and hung up before Ash could ask any questions.

'How am I supposed to know where that is?' He thought before glancing around for something to help him out. After looking around for about fifteen minutes he came up with nothing. "So much for a map, but those really didn't help me during my adventure so I doubt they'd help now." He said before heading for the door. The problem was that as soon as he had his hand on the doorknob his stomach growled. "I'll eat after this meeting." He said, hoping that what he said will stall his stomach before heading out the door and out of the hotel.

"Where in blazes could he be?" The CEO of Warner Brothers questioned while pacing behind a curtain, hidden from the few people beyond it. He looked at the clock witch read – 9:30 and the secretary called him at – 8:00. The studio psychiatrist was in the back with him: watching him pace and he knew that this was one main way that he didn't lose his temper.

"Did you remember to give this person a map of the studio?" The bald man asked him in a nervous fashion. The short man glared over at him before yelling at him.

"Of course I did: I gave him an address to the studio hotel." He then added, "Besides I have the map right here." He pulled the said map out from his back pocket, and that is when reality struck him. "Oh dear, I forgot to give this to him: who knows what kind of property damage he is doing." He said with a worried expression and several out of character images involving Ash popped into his head. In reality the trainer was just wondering around the studio having no idea where he was.

"I wonder where the Auditorium is." Ash thought aloud as he looked around at studio numbers: 26 and 27. On his way he ran into several actors and actresses – Jim Carey, Mell Gibson, Kirsten Dunst, Nicolas Cage, Eva Menades, Tommy Lee Jones, Jason David Frank, and Will Smith. They were nice even though for the trainer he did not know when Jim was serious or funny, but still a nice guy. Back at his end point Plotz was now REALLY getting nervous.

"Who do we have here, Doctor Scratchansniff?" The short man asked before peeking through the curtains. The two men looked at the small group of people there. There were three in particular that began waving at them, but the two ignored them.

"Maybe we could use one of the Goodfeathers?" The psychiatrist questioned his boss after the two of them made it backstage. The shorter one began pacing again and after a few moments he said aloud.

"Hey why don't we use one of the Goodfeathers to get the boy here?" He questioned while looking at the bald man.

"Isn't that what I just said?" The shrink questioned but the CEO was not listening to him one bit.

"Now which one should I use?" The short one said and began to think of which of them would be best. It only took him a moment to find the right pigeon for this minor job. "Squit, I have a job for you." He said after leaving the curtain and headed to the group of seven.

"Me?" The nervous pigeon questioned the human that approached him and his team. "What is it that you want from me?" He questioned after seeing the CEO nod at his first question.

"I want you to get a human over here, and don't worry you'll know him when you see him." Plotz said with an unstable calm tone. The bird was about to ask a simple question, but the gray haired one grabbed the fowl and threw him to a spot he believed to be a window. Out of sheer luck the man guessed right and he was off.

'He didn't have to be so rude about my question.' The flyer thought before looking down. 'He said I'll know the guy I'm looking for, but I doubt it. I mean there are a lot of people at a studio and almost all of them use the big name ones like this one.' He added that thought with his head pointed down. After an hour of searching he saw one with a strange baseball cap and talking to one with a helmet. 'That must be the guy.' He thought, but decided to stay out of sight and do the circling routine.

"Thank you for the board, Tony, and good luck with that live-action video game." Ash said to the boarder. He then put the skateboard on the ground and was about to give it a test run when he was something strange in the air. "Only time I saw a bird act like that was when one of my flying Pokemon found something that I needed back home." He muttered after seeing it making circle patterns. 'I hope this works.' He thought and shouted up to it, "Hey, Bird I hope you can keep up." He then skated on down the lot.

"Gee, I guess he saw me." Squit said before following and then sped a little before the boy. Ash saw that he was in front of him, but that was all.

'I was right, he did want me to follow, but to where?' Ash thought while still on the move. After using moves that not even he knew he had on objects like stage equipment the two made it to a building named, 'Auditorium'. "Thanks, my friend." He said to the gray pigeon as he saw it fly into an open window, the same window that he was thrown out of.

"Hey, uh, Ash, over here." A voice said and when the person in question followed the noise he saw that it was the security guard from yesterday. The young man decided to take him up on that on use the backstage door. When he got inside he saw Mr. Plotz and a tall, skinny, bald man.

"Hi, Mr. Plotz, sorry I'm late." Ash said in an embarrassed fashion. As always the tall one thought that his boss was going to blow a gasket like almost always, but he was a bit shocked over the tone that came out of the man's mouth.

"It's really my fault Ash; I should have given you this map before you left." He said in a calm fashion before handing him the item that he spoke of. After the one sided exchange the man added, "There are a few people on the other side of this curtain that you should meet. Let me introduce you first." He then went on the other side where the more insane creatures of the studio were sitting. "Now if I may have…" The CEO stopped when he realized that they were deep into whatever loud mouth conversation so he tried louder, "QUIET!" He shouted and just like that they shut up, even the most rambunctious members stopped. "Like I was saying we have a temporary employee for Warner Brother studios." He said before motioning for Ash to come into view, which he did. "This is Ash Ketchum; he will be staying here until we can get him home." The creatures looked at the skinny boy and saw his outfit: decent sneakers, blue jeans, blue and white jacket, black shirt under it, green/black fingerless gloves, red/black/green hat.

"Hi, like he said, my name is Ash Ketchum, and you guys are?" The boy questioned and looked at the people for an answer. Three creatures came to him first, and in his opinion their bodies reminded him of Unknown and Lucario as one.

"Hi there pal: I'm Yakko." The tallest one of the three, who only wore white gloves and brown baggy pants, shook Ash's hand vigorously. The second one: similar in appearance landed on top of the taller one and started his own handshake.

"I'm Wakko." He said while shaking. Wakko wore a light blue shirt, white gloves, and a red backward hat. The trainer just smiled and slowly separated from the second Warner. The third one, female with a pink skirt, yellow flower in ear, and white gloves jumped into the mix.

"And I'm…" She had stopped after jumping into his arms and stared into his eyes. In turn he held her and did not pressure her into continuing although when she finished he was a little caught off guard when she continued, "In love." She held a big blush on her white face. In the small crowd there were other females that did not like where this was going; even though they did not know why.

"Dot, keep going." Wakko whispered to her. He wanted her to give him her name so they could move on since he left a recording of the history of Don Knotts running in the Water Tower. That whisper almost completely knocked her back to reality.

"I'm Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the Third, but my friends call me Dot." She said while still loving that he was holding her close. She examined the man and was growing more fan-girl by this stranger. "Normally I would add: if you call me Dotty and you die, but you can call me Dotty if you like." She said before grabbing the sides of his face and planted a BIG kiss right on his lips.

"Um, thanks…" Ash said after he was able to part from her. Then two animals stopped to his right.

"My name's Runt. You seem like a nice guy, definitely, definitely a nice guy." A big brown dog said to him. The monster tamer knelt down, but with the young one still in his left hand he used his right hand to shake his paw.

"And I'm Rita." A slender gray and white cat, who was on the dog's head, said to him; he looked up at her, right into her green eyes. Ash let go of the dog's paw and began to scratch her chin with his finger. 'This feels so nice.' She thought after a moment or two with this type attention. When she did not feel his touch she saw that his hand was moving away; she did not know where this came from, but she leapt onto his arm and onto his shoulder.

'That was strange.' Ash thought when he saw it, but then added, 'Luckily I'm used to having creatures climb up on me.' He then felt fur on his right cheek. When he looked on that side of his face he saw that Rita was snuggling up to his face. Thanks to Pikachu he was used to that sign of affection too. Unknown to Ash was the fact that Rita's actions were angering the girls around him.

"Let me fill you in on the three that are…shy." Plotz said to the trainer, wanting to speed this up a tad since time was money. Ash stood at full height with Dot still in his arms and Rita still on his shoulder.

"Go ahead, Mr. Plotz." The boy said to him.

"Those three over there are the ones I spoke of. The first is Chicken Boo." Plotz pointed to one that was as tall as Dodrio in Ash's opinion.

"Buk-ha." The fowl said while trying to memorize the exact detail of Ash's outfit for any future adventures.

"The one to his left is Mime." The CEO man continued pointing to a black haired man with a red and black outfit. The creature, living true to his title, said nothing just waved. Ash, not wanting to seem rude returned the gesture.

'Gotta get Rita off her perch so Ash can pay more attention to me.' Dot thought as Thaddeus was still talking.

"The one to the left of Mime is Mr. Skullhead." He said pointed to a skeleton in a skeleton wearing a light blue suit with a light blue derby. Just as the last the skeleton waved to the trainer and also like last time he returned it. "Now let me show you to…" Plotz was about to add another person until the two heard a sharp yowl. The yowl was that of Rita who had been flung into the air.

'That should do the trick.' Dot thought as she recalled the arm she stretched around the Poke`mon user's back. Her plan hit a snag when she felt herself being placed on the ground.

"Don't worry, I got her." Ash said to them before leaping after her. He grabbed a hold of her, but since he didn't have a complete plan he turned to where his back was to the ground. He landed hard on the ground with his arms securing Rita for the impact. "You okay?" He questioned with strain in his voice after crash landing.

"I should be asking you that." She said back to him while trying not to think of how close she was to him. 'Why am I acting this way? I'll just chalk it up to what Runt said yesterday.' She thought before feeling some movement. When she looked around she could see that Ash was getting back on his feet. When he stood, there were two blonds in front of him.

"I can't really remember my name, but the Warner Brother call my Hello Nurse, so you can too." The human looking one said to the boy. Ash, understood that 'nurse' part because she was sporting the same hat as the Nurse Joy's from his home world. He then turned his attention to the other blond, and this one was a bit different.

"Name's Minerva Mink, maybe I'll ask for your help sometime." The white furred woman said while cupping her hand to the side of his face. This interaction was something that bothered the feline in his arms, because when she parted from his face the minx could see Rita giving her a death stare. 'Try it sister.' The one in white thought before adding, 'What am I doing? I am not a total fan-girl like Dot; then why am I close to the bugged out level of seeing him.'

"As I was saying this is another person you may work with, Ash." The CEO man said motioning for the trainer to come back to the stage which he did with Rita still in his arms. The feline gave off a raspberry to the two blonds as he was walking. When Ash got back to stage he saw the same bald man from before standing beside the shorter boss. "This is Doctor Otto Scratchansniff, the studio's psychiatrist." The black haired youth could tell that the man with glasses was timid for some reason or another so he decided to try first.

"It's nice to meet you. I have to tell you, back home I don't think that is a career choice. Maybe someday you can tell me what it does." Ash said as he gave his hand out for a handshake, and after hearing that statement the shrink accepted his hand gesture.

"Ja, maybe someday." The doctor answered back. After the hand shake was over a somewhat annoying voice was heard from behind the boy.

"HEY! What are we: three month old bagels, how about some attention: huh!?" The voice as far as the boy could tell came from a purple bird and white bird that sort of had the same vocabulary as Meowth: one of the most redundant enemies ever.

"Sorry. I guess I lost track of who was next when I had to rescue Rita." He said back while looking down at the gray feline who looked back up at him. This meeting did not last long because the same pigeon had to open his beak.

"You kiddin me: she probably did it to get yous attention." This angered the green eyed cat who had her own answer.

"That's it! I'm gonna have me some freshly roasted pigeons." She said and was about to do so, but Ash had other ideas. He moved one of his arms out of cradling form and held an index finger to the cat-eared one.

"Easy Rita, I'm sure he did not mean to insult you like that." Rita, who was still angry at the bird wanted to yell about his comment but she was only mutter something after an angered huff.

"You take all the fun out of threaten co-stars." The boy turned his attention to the flyers with both arms back around the female.

"Name's Bobby, that's Pesto: don't worry about his temper." A bird with light blue and white feathers said while thumbing over to the purple one with his right wing.

"You sayin I got a temper problem is that what your sayin." Pesto said to his friend in his usual short temper fashion. Before he could go any further with it Bobby interrupted him.

"Yeah, I did, that a problem with you?" Bobby questioned back which made the big-beak one nervous.

"Problem? No, I got no problem with that." He answered back with sweat appearing on his feathers. The third pigeon spoke to the boy, and Ash could tell that it was the same bird he met earlier.

"Nice to meet you, Ash, my name is Squit." The brown feathered one said with an extended wing to the trainer. Out of instinct he thought Ash was going to insult his name, but instead the boy gently took his wing with his right index finger and thumb.

"Nice to meet you Squit, and thanks for the wing of finding this place." He said to the bird with a smile. After the shake he saw that there was a fourth male pigeon with them. "Who is that?" He questioned and the creature known as Bobby answered him.

"That is the godpigeon." The round bird slowly walked toward the boy, and Ash had to resist laughing since he sort of looked like those fat pidgeys he met on a various island. The big bird stopped and he saw that the three bowed to him, so he did the same while placing Rita to his right. Ash did not see the foot kissing since his head was down, but he raised when the creature began to talk.

"What did he just say?" The hero of Pallet Town questioned to the three once the elder was done talking.

"Short version, Ash, he says he likes ya." Bobby said to the boy.

"Thank you for the compliment, godpigeon." He said to the leader of the three with another bow. With his body still knelt and with his head bowed down he saw that Rita was glaring at someone, so he rose his head to see who it was.

"Name's Lana and these are my girls: Sasha and Kiki." A female pigeon said while pointing to the female pigeons to either side of her. Ash got up, and decided to say something to them as well.

"Nice to meet you ladies too." He saw and heard the one named Kiki giggle, but he did not know why.

"Back off you three. This…owner already has a pet." The gray furball said, and that REALLY confused the boy.

"Yeah right, alley-cat, I'm sure this guy would prefer a pet that had special skills." Sasha said with plenty of anger in her voice. The trainer decided to intervene before things got too wild.

"I may not know what, exactly, you guys are talking about, but could you calm down." He said to them, and with that suggestion the two calmed down to the point of silent threats. As the black haired youth watched them, making sure that they were alright, he did not notice another gray creature behind him, or a green purse. "Ow." He said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Kid, I'm making this short and sweet: name's Slappy Squirrel and this is my nephew: Skippy." An elderly squirrel said to him and pointed to a hoping brown fuzz-ball.

"Hi." Skippy said with a wave. In the corner of his eye Ash saw a small blonde haired child about to take a tumble in order to see the squirrels better from the fourth set of seats, and that instant his hero mind set in. He ran over and before the little girl could start he caught her, and gently set her back on the floor.

'Wow, just wow!' Minerva along with the others thought after seeing how fast he got from the bottom to the fourth set. Ash did not notice the others staring at him, he only looked at the little girl.

"You need to be more careful." He started and added, "By the way what's your name?"

"Mindy." She answered back with a big smile which caused him to smile and continue the conversation.

"My name is Ash. Don't suppose you could say my name?" He questioned even though there were a few girls about her size that could.

"Ash." Mindy answered back which got them all off guard. The boy on the other hand simply rubbed his hand in her hair.

"Good work." He then saw another brown dog, only in slightly better shape, out of breath behind her. He walked over to it and asked, "I bet you are put in charge to keep that little girl safe." The dog nodded at the comment, but he was surprised at what he heard next. "Your doing a good job, keep it up." The dog raised his head - revealing his collar. "Buttons, good name." He said and heard a different voice, different from the other voices.

"That was fun Brain, Zort!" An energetic male voice said. After taking a quick look around he saw that the pieces of white fur on the dog's head was actually two mice: tall and skinny, short and big head.

Yes, Pinky, especially when Buttons decided to slid under that dumpster." The big headed one said sarcastically, while rubbing his noggin. The two saw the out of town boy looking at them, and it was Brain who directed a serious question at him. "I take it your: Ash?"

"That would be me. And you two might be?" He questioned and the skinny one answered him.

"My name is Pinky - Troz, and this is my best pal: Brain. He will soon be ruler of the earth." The tall one said and then laughed for a bit. "Too bad we had to get here in a hurry; I wanted you to meet Pharfingnewton." He said with a semi-sad expression on his face. The last sentence through him off and he was about to ask what was up until the building began to shake.

"I didn't know that you guys had Earthquakes here, too." He said to them and received a dull toned answer from the Aunt of Skippy.

"Something like that." She said and then pointed to the stage, knowing that is where they were going to show up at. Out of a huge explosion of sorts two hippos stood there. Ash may not have seen hippos before, but their colors reminded him of both types of Nidoran.

"Excuse us for being late, but my darling Maria and I did not feel like walking down all these steps." The blue hippo said to the small human with a bit of a Spanish twang in his voice. "Now, where is this 'Ash' that we are to meet." He said while looking around.

"That would be me." A hat wearing boy said while walking over to them. He was on his guard since their girth matched if not equal to Snorlax, and he had no way to defend if they lost their balance. "Who are you two?" He questioned the two new comers.

"My apologies, senior Ash. My name is: Flavio and this delicate ruby rose is my darling: Maria." The one now known as Flavio said to the boy and saw that the woman made a bow to the youth.

"Now that I now your names, even though there are probably more people to come I do have a question to ask…" Ash said, but stalled as he saw them all lean in closer to him. He was about to finish what he began, but was interrupted by a deafening roar. Every one of the others covered their ears and one of them was able to shout at the new comer.

"Ash, what's with the noise?" The comment came from Slappy, who seriously was having a hard time to contain a coming migraine.

"My stomach's growling." He answered simply, which the others could not understand.

'If that's a growl I hate to find out what a roar sounds like.' Plotz thought before hearing one of the Warner's speak up.

"This calls for one thing: BREAKFAST BUFFET." Wakko shouted and pulled the trainer along. The others followed the two while trying NOT to go deaf.

'I know I have to get home, but I think I might like it here…for now.' Ash thought while also thinking of what to do for Breakfast.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Tales at the breakfast table

"Well, this is where I'm staying for a while." Ash explained to his new group of friends. They stared at the big penthouse that Plotz had given to him. The eldest of the Warner siblings looked around and then back to their new friend with a big grin.

"Not a bad job, Ash. Just started here and got one of the best places at the lot." He said while shaking the trainers hand. The trainer just smiled nervously at him, but thankfully his stomach cleared the awkward handshake with another growl. The gray furred squirrel who was little in patience decided to speak up through the noise.

"Alright already, let's get `im some food before we all need hearing aids." She said to them and then flopped on the couch and added, "And when I said that I meant anybody but me." She then relaxed into the seat. This raised the ire of Ash's secret fan club, but they did not know of the Pallet Town member's good heart.

"No, Slappy has the right idea. How about you guys rest up and I'll fix the grub." He suggested and entered the kitchen. "Wakko, think you could find a table for us?" He questioned while looking at what the room he was in had to offer.

"Sure thing." The middle sibling said back before taking off his red hat. He then dug around in it, like a magician looking for a rabbit, and after a while found what he was looking for: a table. He slammed the table down and set up the silverware for him. After a great while of suppressing his growl and making Breakfast at the same time two of the final members made it.

"Are we too late for this delectable meal." Favio, the blue hippo questioned after making it to Ash's room. Giving the sausage links a once over Ketchum walked over to the kitchen doorway to the door to his temp place.

"Yeah, it is. Come on in, if you can." Ash said to them and was surprised when he saw BOTH of the hippopotamus were able to squeeze in without damaging the frame of the door. 'How did they do that?' He thought knowing that the heavy set Pokemon can never really get into a room without a little damage. The monster tamer ignored that thought and went back to work, and around 11:00 he was serving them everything he created.

"This is one heck of a spread." Skippy said in praise to the human's skill as he looked at his 21 stack of pancakes; he was grateful that they were not the size of silver dollars either. The trainer loaded up the table with every known form of food for Breakfast. None of them ate until he was there, but that could take a while.

"Okay, Runt, Buttons come over here." Ash said as to the canines as he piled up the last of their grub on their plates. He walked over to the two in question with their spread, and they both liked what they saw. Four chunks of 12 ribs, three BIG T-Bone steaks, sausage patties on top of that, sausage links, Hot Dogs, Polish sausage, and bratwurst around that. "Hmm, something's missing?" The trainer questioned and quickly came up with an answer. The raven haired chef went in and came back with turkey broth and poured it on top. "That should do it guys." He told them with a smile.

"Thank you." Buttons said to him and began to chow down. Runt was also happy about the meat.

"Yeah, thanks Ash. Definitely, definitely thanks." The big dog said and began to eat. The Pallet pal looked over to the birds of the crew and knew what to do with them. He walked back over to the kitchen and got into the oven.

"Don't think I forgot about you guys." He said and pulled out a whole mess of forms of bread: bread loaves, muffins, bagels, donuts, and churros. "Here you go guys." The boy said to them and added, "I have a feeling that the god-pigeon goes first." He presented the spread to the plump one. After a quick look with his non visible eyes he picked out a bagel that looked perfect. Once it was down in one gulp the elder spoke.

"The god-pigeon says you cook the best bread he ever had." Bobby informed seeing the humbled clueless expression. "Now, put the bread on the table and let's chow down." Bobby said to the boy, since he too was starving.

"Just a sec." He answered back after looking down and saw Rita smothering around his legs, trying to get his attention. The trainer soon picked up the cat in his arms and carried her to the kitchen. "Don't worry Rita, I didn't forget about you. "He spoke in a soft voice as he pet her while barley touching her fur. With one hand he reached into one of the cabinets, and grabbed something he saw earlier: canned cat food.

"Why, Ash, you sly little boy. You shouldn't have." She said to him when she saw the can. He placed her down and the two headed to the table, she got to her seat, and he put the canned food on her plate.

"Now is everyone okay. I didn't forget anything, did I?" He questioned them even though the most of him knew that they were all probably famished.

"Yes, we're good. Let's eat." The elder squirrel said in her usual anger tone. The boy obeyed her request and sat down at the right end of the table with Dot to his left and Minerva to his right, and as soon as his butt touched the seat they chowed down.

'Man, I've never known anyone who can eat as much as my brother.' Dot thought as she watched the latest human eat and eat he did.

'Aside from the fact that he can eat as much as that lecher with the cap Ash really does seem nice.' The mink thought as she too watched him eat. After two hours their food was gone and they were relaxing even though most of the food went to Ash or Wakko.

"So, Ash, tell us: what is your world like?" The big headed mouse question when he saw that all of them were relaxing at the table. The boy looked at all of his new friends and saw that all of them had the same question on their face.

"My world has creatures of different shapes, sizes, colors, personalities, types, and attributes. All of them are called Pokemon, and there are a few careers to go by: professor, trainer, breeder, coordinator." He said to them and saw that they needed something more, so he went on, "A professor analyses Pokemon in their own way: sees what the creature does, what it eats, you know that kind of thing. A breeder sort of raises Pokemon, but they raise a Pokemon's inner beauty, and also knows the best way to keep them healthy. A coordinator shows off a Pokemon's skill in a different way - they show off their creatures beauty, but without losing the creature in a display of pure glamour. And a trainer goes around different gyms to collect badges and compete in the finals." He said to them giving abridged version of what the jobs around Pokemon do.

"So, which is your, Ash?" Squit questioned the out-of-towner. Ash thought for sure that he answered that when he gave them his name, but he didn't mind giving it to them again.

"Mine is: Pokemon Trainer, and I already have a few badges if you want to see them." He said to them and saw that most of them were nodding for him to get them. As he dug through his pack the short attention one voiced her thought of this.

"This is going to be as much fun as listening to Fan-boy go on and on about his comic collection." Her sentence went unheard as pretty much all of the girls were staring at his butt while it was in view; some even tried to take pictures with their cell while his back was turned.

"Here they are." He said after he found all of the portable containers that held his badges. "These are all of the badges that I have ever got through out my journey, it's a good thing that I always keep them around to…help inspire me when ever I had a set back." He explained to them.

"But I bet you never have a set back, do you, Ash?" Nurse question the young one. The boy went into a state of nervousness like he often did when asked those sort of questions, but like always answered her truthfully.

"You'd be surprised like when I first started: I overslept by breaking my clock, so I ran over there in my PJ's." He said to them with an embarrassed red face.

"Seriously?" The CEO questioned the lad without disrespecting him by laughing at his face.

"Yep." He answered casually. "Anyways, when I got there the only creature that Professor Oak, the researcher in my hometown of Pallet, was a Pikachu." He continued and that is when an idea hit him. "Come to think about it. I guess me giving you guys a book over the Pokemon and people that I've met won't hurt." He then went back to his pack and it took the girl-feathers everything they had NOT to pinch his buttock with their talons. "Found it, but I only have one book." Ash said to them and the last part came out in a sad tone.

"No problem, Mac. We got it covered." Yakko said and raced over to where the closet was. He then pulled on a curtain string, a string that the new arrival didn't even know was there, and revealed a copier. The eldest Warner put the book in and before the trainer knew it the scan of all of the pages were done. He handed each of them a book and said to Ash, "Okay, you can continue."

"Right…well, Pikachu and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot. He didn't like me and I was trying to be his friend, but after an attack by a flock of angry Spearow the two of us became buds." He said to them of his first creature and how they became friends.

"Spearow, are probably your version of a sparrow, so how did they get angry since there are a few here that have a temper?" Questioned the leader of the girl-feathers: Lana. That was one question that Ash really hated to answer, but he knew that it would be bad manner if he didn't answer her.

"Yeah, I threw a rock at one, and that is basically how it started." He answered. The boy went on about telling them of Misty and the business with her bike, Team Rocket's first strike, his first capture, but then he got to a precious moment. "I can still remember my second blunder and my main promise. I had Metapod in my arms and we were running from the Beedrills, I tried to explain myself…

"I didn't abandon you, Metapod. I just got side-tracked, It was all samurai's fault." His younger self said as he fell dropping the pod to where it was facing him. "No, It wasn't samurai's fault." He said in defeat before setting on his knees and added, "It was my fault. If I was a better Pokemon trainer I'd stop making all these excuses. From now on I promise never to run and leave my friends behind again. No more excuses."

"That's the promise I made and until the day I stop training I'll never go back on it: ever." He said to them and saw that some of them got watery eyed.

"That's such a beautiful promise." Sasha said while wiping her eyes with her wing. The others had to agree with that much about him.

'Loyal to his friends: nice.' Nurse thought about his vow. The boy then told them of his meeting of a rock seller, first attempt against Brock (not bringing up his habit), his family, the power up, and the refusal of help.

"After Pikachu got charged you went against that rock trainer guy?" Pinky guessed to the storyteller.

"Yes, but when the sprinklers went off everything changed." Ash said and then went deeper into meaning.

"Believe me, Kid, I'm no bully." Ash said to one of nine siblings holding onto the new trainer. He heard from a sister why he stopped the attack and said to his first creature a strange order, "Pikachu, return." The comment confused all of them, especially the gym leader, but the trainer had an answer for that. "Those sprinklers going off was just an accident. Winning the match because of that wouldn't have proved anything. Next time we meet, I'll beat you my way: fair and square."

"After I said that I left, but after meeting Brock's dad, who was the guy selling the rocks, I was still able to get the badge." The modern Ash said to them.

'An honorable fighter: extra ordinary find.' Skullhead thought as he listened to the tale. He went on about: Mt. Moon, Cerulean City, meeting AJ(who hasn't seen since then), checking out a Poke-school and the staff, gaining: Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle to his team, meeting Bill along with an unknown giant, meeting and beating LT Surge, going on the Saint Anne, and trading his Butterfree, along with sinking.

"So, you had a Titanic moment?" Questioned Skippy, who cried for that movie while his aunt griped or laughed about it.

"Yeah…I guess so." He answered back not really know what to say to that. He went on about: meeting giant robot Pokemon, beauty contest, giant Tentacruel moment, Maiden's peak mayhem, fighting Sabrina twice, and going to the Tower of Terror.

"So, Sabrina had the power to turn ANYONE into dolls?" Dot questioned with big eyes. All of the girls, maybe or maybe not including Slappy, thought of Ash in doll form in their custody.

"She still might." He said back to her and then went with the quick approach by pointing to the individual story and a few in between action. Some that made them laugh was Ash's dress-up and him being mistaken for another trainer which he was surprised that didn't happen when he was with May. He spoke of the Orange Islands as well, and that one hit a soft spot for the females there.

'That lady doesn't deserve Ash. If she flirts with one leader and rejects the second then she doesn't deserve Ash.' Minerva thought after hearing of the fights with the Orange leaders. He even spoke of when Ash lost and found Pikachu by Team Rocket. He soon moved on to the other fights and mid-adventures.

"One of my Joto battles was a bit different: I had to deal with a girl who thought she and I are lovers." The trainer said, and as soon as he said: lovers, all of the girls got cheesed off.

"Macey, are you okay?" His past self said after taking a spill down a rocky side and landing on a rock. "Stay here leave this to me." He added and took on Rocket…again. After beating them things went from bad to worse. Since she and Misty and Macey did not go over very well.

"Get this after the whole thing, you know, after I beat her: she said that this evolved Slugma of hers was to represent what the two of us shared." The modern Ketchum said to them.

'Teach her why this boy is spoken for.' The blonde human thought after hearing that story.

"I was finally able to gain all of my badges for the Hoenn region just like I did for the others, but after participating in the competition I had to deal with battling another new friend." He said and then added, "I thought it would be great, but it didn't start the way I hoped so I had to give him a reminder."

"Just hold on." he said to the ref and then looked at his new friend, "Morrison, what's wrong with you? We both know that you can fight harder than this so why are you just giving up." The trainer said and got a complaint from the opponent. "If that's the way you feel than you might as well give up right now." He added and received an angered reply, but Ash wasn't done yet. "You have Pokemon that believe in you and battle for you, but right now you act like you don't even care about them." He then got the right words from Morrison and their fight went the way he wanted it.

"I do not understand, Ash. If Morrison didn't want to fight you than why convince him to go full force." Brain said to him, not understanding the warriors style.

"Because just like with Brock I prefer to fight an enemy at their fullest, that's the only way I know that I deserve to move on." He explained back to him, but he didn't understand the fact of honor very well. He then spoke of the other fights including his fights with Anabel.

'Sounds like another person I need to show why this kid is taken.' Thought the white furred one, but she didn't know why she acted this way. She was into the rich folk and Ash Ketchum seemed run of the mill, but for some reason she just couldn't help herself. He then talked about everything else leading up to present.

"That's it! I'm going to bed." Slappy said in an angry fashion and added, "Come on Skippy." The others followed her lead and went back to the homes. The Pallet town youth was about to comment about the dishes until he watched as Wakko ate them.

'Nothing more to do than to take a shower.' Ketchum thought after they all left and took one. After stepping out of the bathroom with a pair of slip on pants and a gray sleeveless shirt on his person he took another look outside of his window. "This place might not be so bad." He said and then saw some garbage move around across the street. 'I better check that out.' He thought and did so. When he got to that mess he saw Rita and Runt resting in the junk.

"Hi, Ash?" Runt questioned when he saw the person in front of them. He knelt down and saw that the feline was already fast asleep.

"How about you two spend the night with me." Ash said to them and saw the canine's tail wag about that. "Good, come on." He said and then gently picked Rita up and the three went to his room. "Make yourself comfy." He said to the big dog, who had already plopped at the foot of them bed.

"Good spot. Definitely, definitely a good spot." Runt muttered and fell asleep instantly.

"How do I deal with this?" Ash whispered when he saw that the cat had clawed onto his shirt. Using his out of the box thinking he was able to lye down without waking her. 'See you in the morning Rita.' He thought and went to bed himself: thinking of the new day.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

First day on the job

'Hmm, strange why do I feel so warm?' A familiar gray cat thought as she stirred from her slumber. Carefully the cat opened her green eyes and saw that the traveler was staring at her with a big smile.

"Morning Rita." He said and kept the smile. She looked around and saw that she was in the bedroom of Ash Ketchum. The thought of 'why she was inside' crossed her mind, but at the moment the only thing she was thinking about was how warm his chest was.

"Morning yourself." She said back and then arched her back for a traditional stretching pose before standing at full height. This may have been the first time, but she did not mind waking up to the trainers face, it was a warm, welcoming sight.

"Uh, no offense Rita, but do you mind getting off so I can make us some breakfast." He said trying not to hurt her feelings. She looking at him for a moment and then went back to lying down.

"No, I think I prefer it here. Besides I'm not even hungry." She said to him, but it was at that time her stomach disagreed with her. As soon as it went off the fur on her face became red with embarrassment.

"Could have fooled me. Come on let's eat." He said to her and about that it she did get off. The two went over to the kitchen, but Rita stopped and saw that her partner was still there: sleeping. When the feline got there she saw him pull out a saucer and some cream. He placed the saucer on the floor and carefully poured the cream into it. "This should tide you over for a while." He said and went to work for making Breakfast for the three of them.

'Runt was right, this guy would make a good pet owner.' The female thought as she took a few licks of the cream. 'But would he accept a creature that sort of may like him more than as a friend.' She added to her other thought, but remembered the tale of Latias and Bayleef and realized that he didn't have a problem with that. It was about that time that the boy was cooking up some bacon and that is what brought the canine out of his dream.

"OH BOY! MEAT! Gotta find the meat, definitely, definitely gotta find the meat." Runt said and began to run clumsily to the kitchen but slammed into the counter by accident. That caused several dishes and cups to fall from the shelves, but Ash was already on it. Using traditional cartoon saving dish maneuvers he grabbed them all, placed them on the counter, and stuck his right arm out; after a while the last of the cups fell right into his hand.

"That could have been very bad." He said after putting the glass on the counter and went back to work. 'How did I do that, anyways?' He thought and continued working on the food. After a few short moments he had a small Breakfast for the three of them.

"This looks really good, Ash." Runt said after receiving his food. The boy smiled about that and decided an easy question, one that he really needed an answer to.

"After we eat maybe you two can properly show me around. If I'm going to be here a while, I'll need a better understanding of this place." He said to them, hoping that they would be all for it.

'That does sound good.' Rita thought before remembering that there was something else she had to do. "Sorry, Ash, Runt and I are need on set in about thirty minutes." She answered him and thought, 'Sometimes I really wish that I had more days off.'

"It's okay, Rita. I understand. I can look around by myself." He said and after a small talk the cat and the dog left his apartment. "Come to think about it, how did I get these dishes: I thought Wakko ate them all." Ash said to himself and then added, " I guess this thing happens a lot to them." He then cleaned the dishes, put away the extra food, and then headed out. 'Still can't believe that I am on a studio: it's awesome.' He thought and decided to visit Ralph first.

"Oh, uh, Hey Ash." The large officer said when he saw the traveler standing outside his station. After saying the welcome the guard knew what his boss wanting to give to him. "Mr. Plotz gave me this to give to you." He said and after moving some donut wrappers he found the package. "Here ya go." He said and gave him an ordinary brown box.

"Thanks, Ralph." He said and then opened the package and saw that it was a small black walkie talkie. "I guess this is for anyone who needs my help?" He questioned to the cop who nodded as an answer. "Hmm, looks like I got a call already." He said and by luck pressed the right button.

"Finally!" Slappy screamed into the device since she was on hold since dawn. "Ash, get that monster trainin butt of yours over here. Got a problem." She added to him and hung up just as fast.

'Good thing these guys told me where they lived.' He thought and decided to get there the only way he knew how: by foot. He headed to Slappy's house as fast as his feet could carry him, which he knew was a pretty fast speed since he traveled mainly by foot and hardly used any transportation. After about ten minutes or so he got to the squirrels front door.

"Good, bout time you showed up. Got a job for ya." Slappy said after slamming her door wide open.

"What is it that you want?" He questioned while getting a bit nervous as she stormed over to him with an angry scowl on her face.

"There's a big walnut at the top of my tree. Get it down here now." She yelled back to him. He nodded and got to work. He leapt to the first branch he could grab onto, then became a monkey class as he climbed the tall tree so easily. 'This isn't so hard.' He thought as he saw the walnut she was talking about and it really was big. Taking great care for a foot hold on the branch he was on he began to pull on it, and after a few tugs he was able to get it, but lost his footing in the process. 'This might be bad.' He thought as he fell, but he was surprised how calm that thought came out. Without trying he grabbed onto a branch that was a foot and a half from the ground and stayed there for a bit before letting go and landing on the ground.

"Thanks." The elder said to him as she walked past him. "Next time take the stairs." She added and then slammed the door shut. The trainer ignored her attitude and tried to figure out how he was able to do that so calmly. That question was put at the back of his head and he decided to head back to the lot, just in case someone needed an extra hand. When he got there he decided to try a road he didn't try earlier and after a ways he heard a painful groan, and that was all he needed to check it out.

"I truly wish that those two would treat me a bit better." A female giraffe said as she tried to rest in an armchair, but couldn't due to the pain in her feet.

"Hello, is it alright if I come in?" Ash asked after knocking on the door. The long necked mammal had heard of there being a new member to the fold, but never met him, so she thought it best to meet him face to face.

"Yes, it is all right to enter." She said and that is exactly what he did. The maid of two heavy weights saw the raven haired youth walk in and he saw the twinge of pain on her face.

"Is everything ok?" He questioned while walking over to her. She let out another short groan since the pain was a little much.

"I've had been on my feet since dawn and…HEY?" She said and was then alarmed when the trainer took off her shoes and saw what she meant.

"I see what you mean but, no problem, I can help." He informed her and then began to massage her feet. As he dug his thumbs to her foot she found herself instantly relaxed. "Man, these knots are bad." He said after a few tries. It took him almost an hour to get done with them both, and in that time she was enjoying herself. "This should do the trick. Good bye." He said to her and left with her looking at the boy from behind.

'This man I like.' She thought and added another thought to that, 'My niece wrote to me of also liking a normal human.' So she wondered if she was turning out to be like her family member. Through out the rest of the day he spent it doing small delivery chores along with drinking and eating. Near 5 o` clock he was at a set for a Minerva cartoon.

"So, why am I here again?" Ash questioned the director of the cartoon as he stood to his left. The bearded man engrossed in what was going on the set, but he was still able to answer the question.

"For now you're a gopher." He answered back and watched the beauty at work. This was one thing that could grind him the wrong way: waiting for something to happen, he was a man of action, and sitting around wasn't his style. After thirteen minutes the work was almost done and the boy had to admit Minerva was good, but just as he closed his eyes, since he was getting hungry from hunger, he saw something blue swinging above the blue furred one followed by a snap.

"Everyone get off the set." Ash yelled after opening his eyes and seeing that there really was something falling. Most of them were able to get out of the way, but Minerva stayed there: frozen with fear, watching as the row of lights were heading straight for her. The boy reacted out of his hero instinct and rescued her with a grab and roll maneuver.

"Is everyone alright over there." The director said, fearing that he lost two people in the process. 'That dork just had to get the crapiest support wiring.' He thought in anger, but was soon relieved when he heard a voice.

"We're fine Mr. Spielberg." Ash said and slowly rose to his feet while holding the mink in his arms. A few of the workers came back with fire extinguishers to handle the blaze. When it died down the trainer and his friend rejoined the others.

"Thank goodness that you two are okay." Steven said in relief when they met. The man had seen plenty of stunts before, but nothing that insane in a long time.

"Yes, Ash, thank you." The mink said, grateful that her fur was okay. She also saw the way that he held her and thought, 'Nice use of holding too.' He had her right arm around the back of his neck and his left arm around the left side of her waist.

"I hope that you do not take this the wrong way, Mr. Spielberg, but I don't really care what you say I think Minerva needs the rest of the day and maybe more off." Ash said to the head man of the studio. At first the man in brown stared at him, but soon began to laugh.

"I hear ya Ash, but for toons this is usually when they stop for the day." He said to the boy who became embarrassed for making a big deal over nothing. "You are right, she will need a few days to recover from that." He said in a somewhat serious manner.

"If you don't mind, I would like to take her to her home." The monster tamer said and got the ok from Steven and headed out. Due to his strength of will Ash was able to journey to the lake beside the white furred one's home, but stopped in front of the door.

"Thanks for taking me home." Minerva said while trying to act as though this boy scout routine did not entice her; even though it did.

"Happy to do it." He said to her and then surprised the female with a hug. "For what's it's worth, I'm thankful your still here." He whispered to her in a serious fashion. He broke away and took a few extra steps back. "I'll check up on you tomorrow to see if your okay." He said and then headed back to his place.

'So he was worried about me.' She thought in awe. 'That means he prefers me over the others.' She added and then one last thought occurred, 'I know this is selfish, but I kind of hope that he can't go home.' With those thoughts in mind she headed to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Free day

It had been six weeks since Ash Ketchum, an out of town monster catcher, came to Warner Brothers studio, and he has made several friends. In that time he had made catching the Warner Siblings into his own sport by using feet or the various sports gear that they gave him such as skateboards, bicycles(which he hardly uses), rollerblades, roller skates, pogo sticks, and even scooters. 'I wonder if I'll ever get home.' The boy thought as he looked out of his window.

"Morning, Ash." A familiar voice said from behind him. The raven haired youth turn away from the view of the studio to the person that was wanting his attention; it was Rita, yes in that time she and Runt have called Ash's temporary apartment home. The feline, along with the others, have shown him much kindness since he first arrived in their studio which he was grateful for.

'Even if they are able to help me get back home…would I want to.' Ash thought since these guys were starting to feel like family to him. He then shook those thoughts out of his head and concentrated on making breakfast for him and two others. He fixed the usual: scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, Orange Juice, cream, and sausage.

"That was another great meal, Ash definitely, definitely great meal." The big, brown dog said to him in an energetic tone, that he used in all of his sentences. The boy was happy that they were happy of being around him, and while the two were eating there was a tapping on the window.

"Guess it's time to feed those three." Ash said to Rita and Runt before politely leaving the table. Aside from feeding those two he often fed the creatures of Warner Brothers. He was glad that they refilled his stuff every night due to Wakko or the hippos visits. He opened up the window and three pigeons came in: the Girl-feathers.

"Hey, Ash, how'd ya sleep?" Lana questioned since she didn't trust someone who had been looking for a home her whole life to be near the monster container. The person in question stretched his arms to the heavens for a bit, and then answered her.

"Just fine, Lana." He answered while smiling at her. He then walked over to his closet so he can give them the usual. "Here are your guys' food." He told them while carrying a big bag of bird seed. He poured them into three individual bowls, one for each girl, and in an instant they chow down. "So, any special episode for you five this time?" Ash questioned the small group of actual intelligent conversation animals. Each of them looked at each other and then they all looked at him strangely as if he had said something that did not add up. "Is there something the matter?" He questioned, not liking that look.

"Ash, didn't you hear? Plotz is giving everyone the day off, and I have a feeling that includes you." Rita informed the boy. The monster tamer knew of the word, but back home he would have spent the time watching old Pok`emon battling footage or at the least train his own creatures, but at the moment he had no idea what to do.

"Oh…a day off? Then I guess I'll go for a walk then." He said before washing and dying the dishes. "Well, I'll see you guys around." He said and then left on foot. He was a good helper, but aside from that he was unsure what else he could do at this lot. 'Maybe I can see if Minerva is alright.' He thought, and followed with that plan. He walked over to her home near a lake, a place that he went to ever since the lighting incident…to make sure that she was still safe. Like always he knocked first, he may have been on good speaking terms with them, but he never forgot his manners.

"Who is it?" The female within questioned softly, even though she had a feeling she knew who it was since it was around this morning hour that he had stopped by; she even had a clock on her make-up station.

"It's me, Ash. Is it alright for me to come in?" He asked her in a gentleman fashion. Inside the mink looked around her place, which she usually kept pretty tidy, and saw that it was still spotless.

"Sure thing. Come on in." She answered back, and he followed her advice. Taking a quick scan of her home, which he had seen since he checked up on her since that day, and saw her in her traditional purple bathrobe tending to her long blond hair. She saw him coming through his reflection, and decided to talk with him. "So, how was your sleep this time?" She was an expert of hiding jealousy when she spoke since she was trying to convince herself that she was not interested in him.

"Pretty much the same." He said and added, "Except there was one moment that Runt needed to go to the bathroom." She was not all that phased by that piece of information, she knew that the two canines were night whizzers anyway. "I just need to buy Rita a bed or something. I mean it's okay that she's sleeping on my chest and all, but I would like to turn in my sleep." He said while scratching the back of his head in confusion.

'Her again!' The white furred one though angrily. She knew that the feline had an alternative reason of why she called that place home. She had nothing against her personally, but when ever it came to matters with Ash, she became a little protective.

"So, what are you planning on doing on this fine morning?" He questioned, effectively changing the subject since he sensed her getting angry.

"Planning on hitting the gym." She said to him and added, "Do you mind?" He nodded, walked over to the end table by her bed, and stayed there. She got off of her chair and went to work on choosing the right outfit; which never took her long. "Ready to go." She said to him, her traditional way of telling him to turn around, and he did so.

"Um…you look good." He said a little off to her. The only things that he had seen her wear is her usual red outfit and her robe. This time however she was wearing a pair of jean shorts and a sleeveless red shirt ending with her hair tied in a ponytail with a purple hair-tie and a pair of slip on black shoes. "Care to join me? I bet I can beat you in on the treadmill." She said with a happy smirk. That was one thing that she liked to do with anyone show off her competitive streak.

"You are on." He said back to her. The two got out of the house, and as soon as the door was locked the two began jogging to the gym. The two didn't hurry there since they wanted most of their energy at the gym, and while they were going there a few others were joining them. Buttons with Mindy on his back, the Warner siblings on a three person invisible bike, and Brain in his power suit, but as he used his suit he accidentally stepped on his partner.

"Brain, wait for me." The tall one said after getting out of his hole and trying to chase after them. Ash stopped and got out of the way of the armored rat, He then trotted back at Pinky and decided to help him out.

"Mind if I gave you a hand?" He questioned after kneeling down to the fellow lab assistant.

"Zort, sure thing, Ash." He answered back and saw the trainers offered arm, and after climbing it the shoulder the two carried on. As he did that the mink saw that and could only smile.

'That's Ash for ya, always helping.' She thought, but continued to travel without him. Soon the group made it to the building that read 'gymnasium', and they were all set to work out. As agreed Ash and Minerva concentrated on the treadmill to see which of the two could go further while the others tried weights except for the Warners who just came to sample the bar that was installed a few weeks ago.

"This seems a little slow, Minerva." Ash said as the two of them were at speed ten. It was an average number for the cast, but the monster tamer was a little different than them. Ash, with all the running away from angry, wild Pokemon along with chasing after Team Rocket when ever they were up to no good, gave his legs a high endurance for running around. While the white furred beauty was enjoying her run she saw that Ash was increasing the level up to twenty, and he wasn't even breaking a sweat.

"Man, Ash, your goo…" The minks was about to say after two hours of running when she lost her footing and was about to fall, but once again Ash's instincts took over. He jumped back, off of the machine, landed, and was able to catch her with ease.

"You, okay?" He questioned while holding her in his arms. She stared into his eyes, trying not to be captivated, and after a shake of the head she was able to answer him.

"Yes. I'm fine." He carefully held her as the two stood up. "Guess I'm just a little thirsty." She said to him, so she can get rid of the worry in his eyes. He let her go and she headed for the bar of the place. The trainer tried weight training with Brain by starting with a couple of 20 pound free weights. As he was training his upper body with Mink watched him work while downing a strawberry smoothie. 'He really is quite good.' She thought as she admired him working out.

"Hey Brain, do you mind spotting me." Ash offered, and he accepted. The trainer knew that it was the suit that was getting the workout so he was making sure that the mouse saw what old fashioned muscle could do. He lied down on the necessary bench and went to work. He was still going after an hour and a half of that same object.

"Ash, perhaps you should stop." The big headed mouse offered, and without putting up an argument he did just that. The boy sat up on the bench and could see that his shirts have sweat all the way through, so without thinking he took them both off.

"Whoa. Didn't know I had it in me." He said while rotating his shoulders. He decided to join them at the bar to replenish his strength. Wakko, who knew a guys stomach: especially one that was built like his, ordered an order that may give Ash a much needed boost.

"You okay, Ash?" Dot questioned while oozing into a puddle while staring at his glowing body. As she pulled off that stunt the other female took out a jar from behind the bar, poured her in, and screwed on the lid.

"I'm doing okay, Dot." He said to the jar with floating eyes inside. As soon as his butt met the seat a TALL pile of food was placed before him. "Thanks, Wakko." He said to the unknown creature while giving him a knuckle touch. They all watched as he ate, and ate it all. The corndogs, hotdogs, chilidogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, double cheese burgers, various chips, pretzels, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream bars, pork rinds, ham sandwiches, pickles, cucumbers, and BLT's were all gone along with the drinks.

"Are you full?" Minx questioned him, surprised that he not a single piece was on his bare skin. She watched as he took a napkin and whipped off his mouth before answering.

"Yes." He said and added a belch. "Sorry about that, but I really am." He said to them in an apologetic tone. He then glanced over at the youngest of the siblings and wondered, 'How do they do that?' That was one thing that he wondered while he was here; that these guys can do things that can defy the known laws of physics - not saying that some things that his world has to offer does not do the same: it was just weird.

"Something the matter, Ash, Point?" The taller mouse questioned after coming from his small station of equipment to his table. They all could tell when the boy was busy thinking due to a distant look in his eyes.

"I'm fine, Pinky." He answered to him, and then decided it was best for him to get some air. "I better see if Rita is okay." He said and then left with a wave from his right hand. As soon as he left the jar burst with a fully restored Dot Warner.

"If you think stuffing me in a jar will give you Ash then you've got another things coming." Dot said angrily back to her.

"As if I should be scared of you." Minerva said back to the Warner. In truth the only Warners that she feared would be Wakko - who often has a big bag of tricks and Yakko - is very vaguely close to Bugs Bunny's mind of deception, but Dot - not so much.

"Don't forget, I still have my Jerry Lewis pet." Dot said and pulled out her trademark container. This freaked all of them out since they were as scared of him as they were of a certain red head.

"On second thought, I better go home as well." She said and decided to high tail it. She left the gym, which the others did soon after, and she also knew that the young one could give a command to her pet to drag who's ever in front of her into the box. The thought of being in the same room with a giant Jerry made her feel queasy. 'I have a feeling that Ash is going to be there for a while, but I wonder if there's another place the two of us can go…alone.' She thought on her way back home.

"Hey guys, I'm back." He shouted when he made it into his apartment. After closing the door and taking a few steps inside, the boy was soon body checked by something big and brown. "Good to see you too, Runt." He strained to say while petting him. He strained because he got the wind knocked out of him.

"Hi Ash. Did you have a good day off. Did ya? Did ya? Did ya?" He questioned.

"Yes, I did. Do you mind getting off of me." Ash said and then questioned. The happy canine got off of him. The trainer got up, and decided to head for the couch. 'I'll worry about a shower after a nap.' He thought and then lied down. No sooner than his body lied there a voice was heard.

"Ash, I know that lately you've been going topless for sleep, but still where are your shirts?" Rita questioned him. She was right, lately he has abandoned the idea of using a pajama outfit at least for now, and just wore his pants to sleep.

"Oh man, I must have left it back at the gym, but don't worry I am the only one with this out fit. So no worries." He told her and then lied back down. She was not sure if he was right about the outfit, but she did trust his judgment, so she did her usual, sleep on chest routine, and they all stayed around the couch.

'He may not have freshened up since then, and I'll have to give myself a long tongue bath after when we wake up, but I don't care. His warmth is so alluring.' She thought and fell to sleep.

'I guess this is how the guys felt while we stopped at Muscle Island.' He thought and added, 'I don't know what they were talking about: it felt great to me.' He soon fell to sleep while thinking of how to balance body building into helping them around here, oh, and…find a way home.

'Someday you HAVE to find out how those guys do what they do.' His inner thoughts thought to him since he wanted to do those sorts of stunts.


	6. Chapter 6

Fun-time fill-in

It was another fine morning on the WB lot, and Ash Ketchum, a visitor from another dimension, was waking up with a, for now, common sight before him – the green eyes of a familiar cat. "Good morning, Rita." The traveler said to the cat on his chest as he laid on his bed. The cat stared at him for a few moments, just enjoying this welcoming sight for the past few moments.

"Morning to you, too." She said and then felt his fingers on one of her favorite spots: behind her left ear. 'I still can't believe that he had found one of my favorite petting spots.' She thought while letting out a passionate purr. The two stayed like that with one boy laying there while petting behind the ear of a gray and white cat until the visitor decided to get down to business.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Ash questioned to her while still petting his friend's fur.

"Not sure what we could do, but Runt and I have an episode to get to this afternoon." The gray furred singer said to her friend, even though she felt as though she wanted it to me more. He picked her up from him by placing his hands under her upper arms, and then placed her on the floor.

"Before that I have to fix you two some Breakfast." He said to her while lightly patting her on the head. He then walked off to his kitchen with the feline right beside him. The human then created the traditional grub for her, and the moment the trainer put the bacon into the oven he heard something slam into his counter.

"Bacon. I smelled bacon. Definitely, definitely bacon." The big dog said acting as though he did not feel a thing. He then went around to the kitchen where the others were. "Am I late, Ash?" Runt questioned while looking this way and that for his meal.

"Just put the bacon in the oven shouldn't be too long." The trainer answered back to the canine while wondering what kind of activities is he going to do today. As the three of them waited the boy decided to ask a question, "So, what will you two be doing today?" He has often asked them that ever since he let them in.

"We're supposed to do another Kiki episode." The singing one said to her friend with a shudder. He understood why she shuddered, aside from training and helping he also watched their work, and saw what she meant. "I much rather be in your arms than hers, Ash." She whispered even though that she only wanted it to be a thought instead.

"What did you say, Rita?" The trainer asked since he heard her, but did not know if he heard her right.

"What? Oh, nothing." She said back while seeming a bit bashful about his question. He ignored the awkwardness, and the group just waited for the cooking to be done, and once it was the three scarfed down their food selsction.

"Another great meal, Ash. Definitely, definitely good meal." The brown furred one said in a happy tone. For the next two hours the group just relaxed in the living room with Ash sitting on the couch, Rita on his lap, and Runt around his feet, but this didn't last.

"Hate to break it to you two, but it's almost time for your cartoon episode." Ash said to them even though that in this short time the two were taking a nap to digest their food.

"Not right now." The gray furred one said while curling in his lap not wanting to get to work. The monster tamer looked down at her with a smile, and also noticed that the dog was also fast asleep.

'What do I do?' He thought while wondering how to help them out. It was not in his natural to make up a lie so that they could stay with him, but he knew that he didn't have the physical strength to carry both even though he has been to the gym and muscles have been starting to appear.

"Just call me in sick." Rita said while still fast asleep. He heard her, but she knew that he wouldn't.

'This may be a bit risky even for me.' Ketchum thought as he decided to put his plan into action. The first thing that he did was pick up Rita - so he wouldn't disturb her as he got up. Once up he gently put her on his hat, since that was the first things he put on since he slept in his clothes, and as soon as she was up there her claws became one with his hat.

"Giant doggy bone!" Runt exclaimed causing the traveler to leap over the sofa from surprise.

'What was that?' He thought before looking down and saw that it was only the dog. He may have been here for almost a year, and even though he was used to talking in one's sleep he still hasn't gotten over all of their 'against logic' abilities. 'It was only you, Runt.' He thought before setting back to work by putting the hefty hound onto his back.

"Just a little lower, Ash." Rita purred while still sleeping on top of his head. The assistant had gotten the dog onto his back, opened/closed the door, and was in the elevator - going down.

'That was easy.' Ketchum thought while still having Runt on his back, surprised that he didn't weigh much. Once the elevator had brought it down to the base of the building he headed to where he knew the Kiki studio was in this lot, but as he was walking he noticed that a lot of people were staring at him; he even heard a few comments.

"What is that new guy up to?" One of the extras in a Harrison Ford movie said as he saw that hat wearer walk past him. The three of them were able to get to the right studio with minimal starring.

"This looks like the place." The boy said after looking at the big doorway. After he said that he went over to where the stage was set – including the co-star which in fact wasn't as mean as they made her seem; in fact she was actually quite kind when the camera's were off.

"Ah, Ash I see that you brought over the stars. After you wake them up you can go. We actually got a studio with good lighting system." The director of the episode Steven Spielberg said to the hired hand.

"Okay." He answered back, trying not to sound sad that he had to bid his two roommates good-bye. The human taxi knelt down and had Runt slid down his back. "Hey, Runt, time to go to work." He said softly to the snoozer, but there was no response, so he decided to use a tactic that he had been using ever since he escorted them to their stations. "After you get done with this I will play fetch with you with a new Tennis Ball." He said that that caused him to jump up in excitement.

"Fetch? We can play fetch after Rita and me play with the monkey?" The canine questioned while running around in circles.

"Sure. Sure thing, Runt." The trainer said after laughing at the funny antic. With that agreement made the canine ran off. A little after he watched the big dog run off he then felt something on the back of his neck. 'Oh, yeah. Rita's still on my head.' The raven haired one thought before taking off his hat, and placing it on the floor. "Rita, time for you to go to work." He whispered sweetly to her.

"Just five more minutes of petting." She muttered back since she was still half asleep. He really did not wish to wake her since she seemed to be enjoying it, but the boy knew that it had to be done.

"I'll pet you after this shooting, I promise, but right now you are needed." He said while slowly stroking his hand on her back. She heard his words, but after spending the last several nights and off days with him it was always hard for her to focus on work.

"Alright, I'll go, but you better hold up to your word, Ash Ketchum or you're hat is a scratching post." She warned after getting off the item in question and headed over to the set. Once she got there Kiki uttered in her native tongue a statement.

"Sorry about what I am about to do." The cat nodded and decided just to get it over with. Once he was outside the trainer then decided to go for his Walkie Talkie to see if there was anyone around that needed his help.

"Ash Ketchum to anyone that is listening to this - is there anyone out there that needs a hand?" He asked on his end and then waited for a reply from the others.

"No, I don't need you playing Tarzan of getting my acorns. Skippy and I are gonna get them by visitin one of my old pals." The elderly gray squirrel said to the boy before hanging up on her end.

"Why didn't you tell him which one, Aunt Slappy?" The nephew questioned in his innocent tone. While Ash has been there with the crew of creatures the young squirrel saw the trainer as an older brother.

"You remember when I let you talk me into having him tag along we visited Walter Wolf?" The green hat wearer questioned as she closed the door to her house.

"Sure I do." The other mammal said energetically.

"You remember when that old wolf tried one of his old school moves to get rid of me?" She questioned while on their way to the house. The boy gave it some thought and answered back.

"Sure I do, but he was only reacting like he usually does." He answered back as he recalled that one moment in time.

"A bomb!" Ash exclaimed a while after being left alone as the elderly man went to get snacks and saw that there was some stripes of red under Slappy's chair.

"Relax kid, I've got this." The female said, but her comment went unnoticed as he went into action.

"I got this." He said to her and went to work by ripping the comically long fuse from the end, but as soon as he did that SEVERAL more bombs were revealed underneath it. "Oh, crud. That, I did not see coming.

"Kid, enough already. I've been through this bit." She shouted while pulling on his hair, just to get his attention, but he ignored her.

"No time to defuse them all." He muttered before adding, "One other option." The monster man slacked the experienced one over his left shoulder and the youngling under his right arm.

'He does realize that we can't be killed let alone die.' Skippy thought even though he learned that lesson the hard way. He felt the human male run to the back of the house.

"What going on?" Walter questioned with four glasses of lemonade on a tray. The only thing that answered him was a charging traveler who kept running until he went through the back door.

"DUCK!" The mouse man said and took cover and then there was an explosion followed by Ash getting chewed out of interrupting their fun.

"Face it Skippy, he just doesn't get our style of doing things." The aunt said in anger since she did not recall anyone having to save her from any of her earlier work. As they spoke of that moment in time Ash spoke to pretty much everyone else through his Talkie.

"Guess no one needs any help." The out of towner said after being hung up by the Girlfeathers. 'I would try working out at the gym, but it just wouldn't feel right without friends.' He thought, but knew just where to go in these kinds of problems - the forest. He walked all that way, and stopped at one of his favorite spots: a lake. 'This is nice.' He thought before sitting down on the grass and then laid down to look at the partly cloudy sky.

'Come on, Minerva, concentrate.' The white furred woman thought as she stood outside her house with a golf club in hand. The yellow haired one has been trying distance shots for the past hour, but with hardly any luck. 'Just one last shot.' She thought and then used up all of the anger of the crap shots into this one swing, and after the head hit the ball the sphere soared. "All right! Finally!" She cheered to herself while jumping up and down, grateful that she was wearing a pair of jeans, but as she was praising her work the assistant was almost ready to take a nap until he heard the faintest whistle.

"What is that noise?" He questioned before resting his upper body on his elbows, but after seeing that that did not help he sat up all the way. 'I still see nothing.' He thought and then went from sitting down to standing up, and that was when he realized one thing, 'It's coming from behind me.' He turned around and that was when he saw a white ball which nailed him right on his forehead.

"Was that a body?" Minerva questioned after hearing a louder thud than what she usually heard. "Hopefully I hit another perv with a high powered telescope." She said while walking to where the ball flew. "Oh, man." She muttered after seeing who it was that she hit. "ASH!" She shouted and ran the rest of the way to the boy in question.

"Ow, that hurt." Ash said while rubbing the offended part of his body. After moving his hand from his head to the ground he felt something soft underneath it. "What the?" He questioned while looking down and saw that there was a familiar hand underneath it. "Minerva?" He questioned while following the hand to the wrist, arm, and finally face. "Is there something wrong?" He said to her in concern, totally ignoring the pain in his forehead region.

"Oh, Ash, I am so sorry." She said in a semi-rushed tone. He still seemed a little confused over what she meant so she clarified by pointing at the object that hit him. He saw the small sphere and picked it up.

"Looks like a shrunken Pokeball." He said aloud while looking at it. The mink gathered that Ash knew of body building and helping others, but sports seemed foreign to him.

"That's a Golf ball." She informed him and then went deeper, "I often use sports to calm my nerves." He nodded to her and then saw that her left hand was slowly feeling his forehead. "Well, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong." She said while taking her time to let her fuzzy digits to glide on his flesh.

'She must know what she is doing, so I won't disturb her.' He thought and kind of liked this feeling. It was like Pikachu nuzzling his face, but at the same time the feeling felt different.

"Your head seems fine." She commented while slowly gliding her hand away from his face. The two of them just stared at each other, not sure what to say next, so they just stayed there for a few moments.

"I better let you get back to Golf." He said to her while handing her the ball of that sport. "I better get going." He said as he stood back up and headed out. "See you later, Minerva." He said to her while running off.

"Yeah…see ya." She said back to the fleeing man in a dazed tone. The two went back to what they were doing before the incident - Minerva went back to training and Ash went back to the lot. The Pallet Town protector headed over to his apartment since Rita and Runt's cartoon adventure would still be a while.

'I wonder if there is a book or two in the library that can tell me how these sports of their's works.' Ash thought while entering the building and then went into a built in Barnes & Noble to see if there was anything that he was hoping for. After an hour of searching he found a total of thirteen books that can get him started. "These ought to do the job." He said as he walked off with the books in his arms.

'That really was an accident.' The mink thought after entering her home and tried to relax over what had happened through laying on her bed. 'I still don't trust that cat.' She thought as she recalled the close range female who by now was finishing up her act.

"Where is he?" Rita questioned while looking around for her ride. She had to deal with that monkey long enough and she would like the compassionate touch of Ash, but he was no where in sight.

"Do you think he's okay, Rita?" Runt questioned to his old friend as he stood beside her. He often worried when the human ran late, and this was one of those times, but his worrying was for nothing since the boy in question was reading the book over - Hockey.

"So…that is the job of the Goalie." Ash said after reading all that position does after briefing over the others. He had been reading that book while lying on his bed with his back to the head board. "Hmm, why does it feel like I forgot something?" The trainer questioned with his right fist at his chin, trying to think of the answer to that question until he looked at his clock. "Oh, man! Rita!" He shouted in realization after he found out the problem.

"Normally, I wouldn't scratch an owner choice, but he has about five minutes before I change my mind about that." The gray furred one said in anger as she paced around her friend.

"Oh, crud. Rita is going to carve me up like a turkey dinner." The trainer said as he ran up to the site and full speed even tapping into his monkey-like skill to gain distance to that location. As soon as he said that his favorite body part sounded off which he answered back, "No time to listen to you, old friend." After jumping off of a rooftop he landed in front of the right building.

"It's Ash!" The canine shouting in joy over seeing the faithful human before him, but the feline on the other hand was not so happy to see him - late.

"What kept you, Ash?" She demanded to the boy before her since she was still miffed of being held up.

"I was caught up reading on the sports around this place." He said to her while rubbing the back of his neck in embarrasment. "Can you guys forgive me?" He asked while looking at both of them with pleading eyes.

"Well…" Rita started to say something until she looked into his eyes and then felt his fingers on her chin. "Of course I do." She said dreamily while enjoying his stroking procedure.

"I do too, Ash, yep I definitely do." Runt said in joy, and with that resolved Ash did to them now as he did in the morning - carried them back. This time around they were able in half the time. As soon as he was inside he was reminded of the promise for the cat.

"Now about that petting you promised me." She said while looking up at him.

"You got it, Rita." He said to her before picking her up and heading for the bed. "I hope that it's okay by you if I read as I pet." He questioned to her, and prayed that she was fine with his request.

"I suppose even though I prefer to have your attention on me." The cat commented back to him not even hiding the blush on her white cheeks.

"Thank you, Rita." He said back and then went to reading and petting. This carried on well into the night where the three went back to bed. 'I better start practicing those sports in the morning.' The trainer of beasts thought before falling into sleep. The night went uneventful, and silent until the dawn happened where he woke up with the cat's green eyes staring at him.

"Good morning, my Ash." She whispered while moving up to his face and nuzzled up to it. He smiled after feeling her fur, and decided to speak to her.

"Morning to you to, Rita." He began rubbing behind her ears. The two then starred at each other before going through the usual routine of Breakfast and taking them to a shoot, but instead of taking it easy he went over to the lot's baseball practice building.

"What's he up to?" Plotz questioned after seeing the young man head over to that specific building from his office. He knew that with Ash's help the problems that the Warner's three have been handled - by making him chase them every other day, but he often wondered what the human does off duty. "Time to find out." He said and then told his secretary to hold all of his calls so he could see what was up himself.

"This must be the place." The trainer said after arriving at a large building with a baseball bat and glove above the entrance. Without a second thought he entered the walls of that building, and decided to work on his hitting first. "Safety first." He stated after putting on a blue helmet, and then walked past the cage to face a mechanical pitching machine. "I wonder how it works." The beginner thought after picking up the bat provided, but no sooner than he did that the device started to fire away.

"I'm sure he went this way." The CEO said as he was walking around the same building he saw the new guy walk into earlier, but he dared not risk being seen so he stayed outside to ask him when he came out.

"Wow, I'm actually good at this." Ketchum said after hitting his tenth baseball. "Too bad Casey's not here; she'd probably freak out over how many I have hit." He added as he kept on going while glancing down and saw the four he missed. "Just a few more and then I better head back." He confirmed to himself since he did not wish to keep Rita waiting this time. There was a problem there though; for each swing that he took his aura was seeping into the bat, and after he slammed his forteenth swing it slammed the wall. "Almost felt the bat break that time." He said and then added, "One more hit."

"That wasn't the last time I was here." The older man said after seeing the sudden appearance of a large crack.

"Here it comes: last ball of the day." The trainer said and then slammed the ball so hard that it did not only brake the bat, but put a hole through the wall before him. "Whoops!" He shouted in alarm.

"Who's the wise-guy that did that?" Plotz shouted in pure anger after removing the chunk of wall from the top of his head. What the man saw surprised him grately. "Ash, did you make this hole with a baseball?" He asked since he really wanted to know.

"Yeah, it was me. I'll repair the damage right away." The honorable youth said since he felt bad that he did such a thing even though he had no idea how.

"No worries, my boy." He said back while thinking of using this boy as a secret weapon on some of the business sporting events since he was able to do that. Ash on the other hand was just concerned on repairing that hole in the wall.


	7. Chapter 7

Ash and other mentioned characters are owned by Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Animaniacs and Freakazoid characters owned by Warner Brothers

Chapter 7

Fashion Fad

"There this should do the trick." Ash said after putting on his old pajama outfit. Both Rita and Runt gazed up at the new outfit, and in truth the feline was disappointed because she rather liked the feel of his usual outfit under her paws.

"Why the change in uniform?" The singer of the trio questioned since she knew that it was not his style to dodge a question, regardless of who asked it.

"Something weird has been going on with my outfits; even my pajamas feel weird, but I decided to get to the bottom of it in the morning." He explained to her, and he was telling the truth for some reason or another he found it difficult to move in his multiples of the same outfit for the past week or so. "Does it bother you?" He asked her the question in a combination of permission and concern.

"It's fine Ash. Just get to bed. Tomorrow Runt and I have another swap episode to rehearse on." She said to him while adding what the two of them had planned for in the morning. Trusting her advice he crawled into bed, and placed his bed mate on his chest, but after putting the cover over the both of them a thought crossed the traveler's mind.

"I've been wondering about something Rita." He informed her which caused her to look at him with a half asleep gaze. "Why don't you sleep in the bed I bought for you?" He questioned to her. She looked at him and because some of her brain activity has been shut down for the moment her only reply was:

"It doesn't provide the same warmth as your chest does." He heard her comment, but was confused by it. Before he could delve deeper into the statement he saw that she was fast asleep.

"I'm sure that there wasn't a hidden meaning behind her answer." He whispered to himself before turning off the light. The night was almost uneventful for the exception of the trainer's late light visitor. The first one to notice the figure was the female furball who took a defensive stance while on her owner's chest.

"What do you want?" She questioned to the figure. For an answer the creature pointed to the chest and the closet. "Whatever." She said with a shrug and then went back to bed. After that she went back to sleep and the figure locked the door on it's way out.

'That's weird. I thought I buttoned it all of the way.' Ketchum thought as he saw the buttons to the top half of his shirt have been neatly unbuttoned, but mysteriously stopped at Rita's front paws. "Rita? Rita?" He spoke softly to her.

'Oh how I love that tone.' She thought, but added, 'I'll really miss it when gets to go home.' The house cat creature looked at him with her dazzling green eyes. "What is it, Ash?" She questioned to him after a long yawn.

"Did you unbutton me?" He questioned to her while pointing to his bare chest. She looked down and knew exactly when it happened, but decided to fudge the truth a bit.

'I must have done it in my sleep. Sorry Ash." She said in a sincere tone. He looked at her, and she feared that he was searching for any hint of fibbing to him. It was to her relief that he simply began stroking her back in a nice smooth fashion.

"It's okay, Rita. No harm done." He said back to her before setting her down and got Breakfast ready as usual.

"Another great meal, Ash. Definitely, definitely a great meal." The bulky dog complimented after wolfing down the spread in his dish, but while the trainer was whipping the extra grease from the fur around his mouth.

"Glad you liked it, Runt." The out of towner said before standing at full height. He then tossed the rag away, and gave the two of them some advice, "You two can spend some time on the couch while I take a shower." The two complied as the boy got a pair of boxers and headed to the bathroom.

"He's really a great owner, isn't he Rita?" The canine shouted in praise after getting to the sitting spot of the couch. His friend on the other hand only had to use minimal effort for the same task.

"There's one problem with that, Runt, old friend." The gray furred wonder said with disappointment in her voice. He looked at her curiously, so she went deeper, "He's not here for keeps. This is only a temp thing." She then let her head hang over the edge of the sofa. This was one thing that she tried to avoid at all costs because she didn't want him to leave.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." The canine said and did as she did. Neither of them wanted him to go home. They both knew that it was selfish, but in all honesty he was the first true owner that they had that did not have any ulterior motive of having them around. The duo quit that line of thinking after hearing the shower turn off.

"Play it cool." She whispered to the other. The two of them became happy again: ready to be with him for as long as he was still with them.

"Don't worry guys all I have to do is suit up and then we can truly hang out." The fighter said to them not knowing how they really viewed him. The both of them watched as the human was looking in the two usual spots, but came up with one small problem, "Where are my clothes?" He questioned and then looked at the two of them. "Any ideas?"

"Nope." The cat said calmly.

None." The dog added to his friend's comment.

"So, will you have to walk around the lot as you are." Rita questioned and immediately put her 'hands' over her mouth about what she had just said. 'Did that really came out the way I said it?' She thought about her last statement, but to her surprise he was laughing.

"No worries Rita. If there was one thing that I picked up from Rickie was to always carry a backup." He said to her and then bent down and put his hand under the bed. To their surprise, relief, he pulled out a spare suit. "See?" He said to them before suiting up.

"What are we going to do today?" Runt said happily after the youth left the bedroom and began running around him in excitement.

"I was planning on heading to the park with the two of you, but right now I have to find my other outfits." The Pallet Town protector said to them, and gave the marvelous mutt's head. "You guys can stay here. I'll be okay." He informed them before heading off on foot.

'I wonder if he is behind this.' Rita thought as she recalled the late night visitor. As she was trying to figure what was going on her partner was doing the same, but in a more basic style.

'My suits couldn't have awoken on their own and walked away.' Ash thought as he was walking around the lot. He kept on walking until a voice was heard.

"I just hope this plan works. I know of the old phrase 'the clothes make the man' then maybe that slithering seductress will think I am him." A highly intelligent voice said in one of the alleyways in between the buildings. The monster master knew the voice to be Royce Mumphry or as he is known outside of this complex - Cave Guy. This got his interest.

'Time to get to the bottom of this.' Ketchum thought before tapping into his monkey-like skill he was able to sneak into the alley, and hid behind a dumpster. 'Must remain quiet to get to the bottom of this.' He thought before peeking his eyes over the dumpster. It was then that he saw the blue skinned man in question in one of his outfits, and also saw that he was stretching it.

"What is it, Cave Guy? I was just about to ask Ash what Lucy's outfit looked like, so what do you want?" A female that the trainer knew as - Cobra Queen formerly known as Audrey Manatee spoke to the buff male. Neither she or Ash had saw that the man in question seemed to have cringed after hearing the new comer's name.

"What do you mean by that I'm not that devilishly hansom Cave Guy; It's me - Ash Ketchum." The blue skinned man said to her with a bow. He prayed that what he said would bode well for him since the chicken seems to get away with it until the end of his bit.

"Nice try, but we all got a copy of the kid's outfit." The serpent woman said and added a spin effect which ended with her wearing the trainer's outfit. "See: you, me, and several others have gotten his outfit last night, so it won't work." She explained to him while adding in thought form, 'I was hoping to surprise that heartthrob in this outfit the first time I saw him, but I guess that idea is out the window.' Unknown to her was that the boy did in fact see her.

'So, she said that others had my outfit, but the question is how many others.' He thought before leaving the alley way, and back to the main road. 'Which way to go?' He questioned himself and then decided to go to various homes starting with the youngest - Mindy. When the boy got over there he saw that the youngling was in her harness and was wearing his suit.

"I can't believe that someone gave us new baby clothes, and they are in that nice boy Ash's style." The mother said as she headed back in after having to endure the 'lady' bit. "They even gave one in Buttons style." The mother added and sure enough the canine in question walked out in his gear.

'So that's one house down, but a few more to go.' Ash thought to himself before writing down a note, and showing it to the young blonde. She saw the one word note: stay. He gave her a thumbs-up and she returned it. 'Who's next?' He questioned in his mind and tried for a few more spots such as the homes of: Walter Wolf, Sid the Squid, Beanie the Brain-Dead Bison, Bumpo Bassett, Stinkbomb D. Bassett, Doug the Dog, and Candie Chipmunk.

"At least it isn't one of Slappy's tactics of that can stunt." She said with a sigh not knowing the source of the suit was watching her from afar. Naturally he took a risk and went closer to her once he did he heard a comment from her that seemed strange: "Maybe if I show the new guy how good I look in his threads he will stop checking out that poor excuse of a poster girl - Minerva Mink." It was then that the hero decided to fall back and move onto someone else.

"Hey, I thought Bumbie lived further out then the park. I guess she's renting out a home." Ash said as he spotted the elderly looking dear. He also saw that she was not only holding his outfit in one hoof but something strange in the other.

"Slappy said that sorry excuse for a rat perfected this stuff, but I'm still not sure about them." The former actress said aloud as she stared at the bottle, but her vision went back to looking at the outfit. "Then again it may be the only way for me to fit in this thing more than a few seconds." She said after gazing at the suit. It was then that Ash found himself shiver out of fear. In truth the trainer never looked at age as a bad thing, but for some reason seeing this female in his duds rubbed him the wrong way.

'Time to flea.' Ketchum thought and leapt through the trees not noticing a bright light in the tree he was just looking at.

"This isn't half bad." The fawn said after taking just one tablet she felt a good change happen to her. The monster tamer decided that it was best to visit the baddest squirrel in the park: Slappy. He still decided to stay out of sight, but thanks to her vocabulary it he didn't need to be inside to hear her.

"Why would anybody give me that handyman's outfit? It's not like I like that goody-two shoes. I'm not like those others that fall to his feet every time he enters a room." She said to the youth, not wanting to admit that she wanted to take the same medicine that she gave to her friend to get the kid's attention.

'At least that's one other that I don't have to worry about.' Ketchum thought not knowing the squirrel's secret directives. It was then that the nephew made his appearance.

"I know Aunt Slappy. I know, but I think I pull his outfit off quite nicely." The tan fuzzed youth said while posing in Ash's outfit. The original wearer of the outfit had to admit that he did good in that suit, but decided to leave before his luck of not getting caught run out.

'At least I know that Minerva has more dignity than jumping on the 'Ash Ketchum' bandwagon.' The monster collector said as he headed to a specific spot in the woods that was the best place to clear his head. However he was welcomed by a much unneeded sight near the local lake.

"The feel of this outfit is great." The white furred woman said as she preformed a few martial art moves while wearing his outfit. The boy was about to hide, but something was forcing himself to stay in plain sight - watching her entrancing moves.

'She is officially amazing.' He thought to himself as she shadow sparred. A few minutes since he arrived the two legged animal glanced over and finally saw that she had a guest - the origin of the latest fashion fad.

"Hey, Ash, didn't your mom ever teach you that it is rude to stare at someone." The minx said to him with a coy smile on her face. It was then that the boy in question snapped out of the trance and became bashful of being caught.

"Uh…well." He started to say to her and then decided to get straight to business. "The reason that I came here this time is because there are several of you guys and that of Freakazoid cast that is wearing my outfit, so I gotta ask: where did all of you get my clothes?" He asked of her and trusted that she would give him a straight answer.

'She really didn't tell him. That's pretty bad - a house pet not telling her master what's going on.' Minerva thought before she decided to add to his discomfort over this whole thing. "I know who did it." She told him and saw his face brighten up, but his hopes came crashing down once she finished her comment, "But I'm sure while find that out on your own: you're a very smart kid." The female then proceeded to take off his cap and rub her left hand in his hair before giving back his hat.

"Thanks, Minerva, and your right. You telling me where this person is won't be half as fun as me finding them on my own." He said to her with a smile on his face before turning around. "See you later, Minerva." He shouted to her before running off to a new location.

"Bye, Ash." She shouted back while waving her hand, but a sinister thought entered her mind once he was gone. 'I just wonder what you are planning on doing once you catch up to the person responsible, or it your beloved Rita since she held back personal information from you.' She knew that Ketchum could never bring himself to harming any of them, but a girl could dream as such. The traveler on the other hand was striking out at a few in town places of where the answer was at: Longhorn, The Lobe, Candlejack, Chicken Boo, Mr. Skullhead, and the Mime; there were others, but all of them proved useless.

'Man, this is tougher than I thought, and it's already noon.' Ash thought as he lounged on a park bench in front of a statue. The trainer was taking a break since he was getting tired of all of the dead ends. 'Time to set off again.' He thought and was about to stand up until a familiar voice came to his ears.

"The nerve of those girls - wearing his suits. I mean what's so great about him." The voice belonged to the short-fused bird of the Goodfeathers: Pesto, and he was complaining about something.

"Geez Pesto you kept saying that for the past five miles. Let it go already." Another bird said to the purple one; this one was Squit. "I mean we all saw them wearing bird versions of his outfit, so what." He continued to speak to his friend.

"Get it though that thick skull, there, Squit. Those three hang out with him before every shoot, and ever since he showed up we have been pushed aside." The angered one answered back. Ordinarily he would have been a lot more angry, but ever since he showed up he controlled all but his voice when it came to his anger.

'I better get going.' Ash thought and then casually walked off into a different spot of the lot while recalling that the sparrows were speaking of having the same problems as he was spying on the hippos. 'There's probably only one spot that can truly help me with this.' He thought and then headed for the water tower; knowing that if anybody could give him a true lead it was the Warners.

'Looks like he's trying to find the culprit of his clothing.' A woman that was watching him head to the tower thought. Said female was another familiar face, but she was using her magazine as a shield. 'This suit really is quit comfortable.' She thought with a hidden smile before going back to her book. Despite knowing all of the different ways that the siblings get into their home the human still climbed up all that way to the door.

"Hey, Ash, what brings you to our little home." The eldest of the trio said to him even though he knew what the visit was for since he was wearing it right now. The monster master looked at him, and instead of getting angry like he used to when he first started his journey he approached this problem with a level head.

"Just wondering why everyone is wearing my outfit." He asked his new found friend the simple question. The other scratched his head for a bit since he was not sure if the human before him was going to be happy over who he saw profiting from his personal possessions.

"You've been so popular we decided to dress up just like you." Dot answered for her bro since she was too excited of being in her crush's outfit. The two of them looked around wondering where the voice came from, and that was when a spot light sounded off. Both males glanced over to the noise and saw that it was the youngest wearing his outfit. In a flash the middle child instantly created a catwalk for his sister.

'This day keeps getting weirder and weirder.' Ketchum thought as he watched the events unfold before him. After doing a few harmless poses the spry female took a chance and leapt right at him. His instincts told him to catch her which he did effortlessly.

"My hero." She said to him before pecking him on the nose. As she wrapped her arms around his neck and enjoyed the moment the boy was scanning the room. Throughout the time he had spent in their world his senses have become sharper, but his insight on a situation was still in the works.

"Hate to break us apart, but…I would like to know where you guys got all of my clothes." He said to her, and her brother. Again he prayed for a straight answer, a solution to this long asked question.

"We don't know." Dot said to him while releasing his neck and leapt away from his arms. They all wanted him to find out on his own, and see the results. It was at that time that Wakko came up with an idea.

"Why don't you try to ask the Wheel of Morality." The hat wearing Warner pointed over to the disk held up by a blue background. The hero was confused causing the devourer of dinners to delve deeper, "We use it at the end of most of our routines and it often gives us random stuff, but maybe it will work better for you." The human gave it some thought, and since he really didn't have much to loose the boy went for it.

"If you say that this will help then…" He said to them before approaching the wheel. Once he was there he gave it a spin, and asked it: "Wheel of Morality tell me who had stolen almost all of my clothes?" He questioned as it slowed down on the number 2 before printing off a piece of paper. 'I don't believe this.' He thought after ripping off the paper and read the information on it.

"Soooo, I take it you know who is behind it?" The sister questioned cutely at the youth. He glanced down at her and gave off a quick nod before saying to them.

"Thanks for everything, I'll play with you later - thank you." The trio was used to that kind of speech since that was how Jackie Chan often spoke when he was performing. As for Ash - halfway down his climb he saw that a studio roof was nearly eye level, so with a little help from his aura he leapt from the outside of one of the towers support legs to the roof. 'At least this trip has given me an excuse to tap into my aura powers.' He thought once he landed, but did not stay there: he kept heading to the place it said on the paper.

"Now should be the perfect time to get our own outfits." Rita said to her partner. Both of them had left five minutes after Ketchum, and had been taking trams to the one place that was giving everyone the latest fashion.

"Not to worry, old friend. Chances are he's probably with Minerva." She said back to him, trying not to sound angry over the female's name, but was unable to stop another emotion of coming with that name.

"Rita, are you okay?" He questioned to her after hearing the strange tone of that last word. She gave him a happy nod, but he decided to explain himself to her. "It's just that you sounded jealous, definitely, definitely jealous over Minerva." She looked up in a glaring fashion at her old friend which caused him to stifle over what he was going to say next.

"What do I have to be jealous with her for anyway?" She questioned aloud; not really wanting an answer.

"Well, she…" A rather large teen said to her before getting a ticked glare aimed right at him.

"Rhetorical. Fanboy." She said to the one that was about to speak to her. She then took a look at what he was wearing causing her to add, "By the way I know that you know that you can't pull that look off." He was wearing what everyone was wearing - Ash's latest outfit. The two of them, along with Ash who was leaping from roof to roof - sometimes through aura - all heading to the same place: Acme Labs.

"There you go, Norm Abram." A person inside the lab said to a tall, bearded man. The man in question took the bag, and left. It was then that he saw a couple of animals that he had heard finally have a home, so he opened the door for them.

"Thanks, Norm." Rita said to the human as he left after they entered. The two of them made their way to the counter. The lovable lug took position at the base of the counter and held up his hands. The agile one of the duo leapt onto the open hands, so she could speak with the man responsible for all of this.

"Hello, Rita, I am pleased that you, forgiven the slight pun, rat me out last night." The man at the counter said as he looked down to her. The person behind the counter was none other than Brain wearing his old fashioned suit. With his big brain he was able to come up with an alternate appearance for the lab with the touch of a button inside his suit.

"No prob. I just hope that you still have me and Runt's outfits." She said to him while giving him a warning look in her eyes which he caught and feared. Outside of the building Ash ran to the edge of the last roof, and that was when he realized that there were no more roofs to help him out.

'So much for the fun way.' Ketchum thought before using his natural acrobatic abilities to get back onto the sidewalk. After honoring the most traditional rule of street crossing he made his way to the lab, but did not go inside; instead he chose the window. 'She knew about this?' He thought in astonishment after seeing that Rita and Runt were in the lab that he wanted answers from.

"Here are you're clothes, Rita." The armored rat said after giving the feline the two bags of clothes.

"I can't believe that ditz - Billie has come up with a plan that actually works." The gray goddess said to the brainiac. The 'taller' man had to admit she may have acted oddly, even though he blamed his old friend for that, but he had to agree with the natural enemy on this one.

"Quite right, and I have made a substantial amount of money on this." He informed her as he was trying to keep his register from blowing. Unknown to any of them was the owner of the suit walking to the door, determined to get answers.

"Rita. Runt." Ash shouted after forcing the door to open with the sound of shattered glass. All three of them looked at the door and saw their old friend, but it was the female that saw something in his eyes - a look of betrayal. "You guys knew about this?" He questioned with a calmer voice to them but his voice let them know he was hurt over that fact.

"Yes, yes, we did Ash." The cat whispered after seeing that the canine has hung his head in shame. She felt the same, but she also wanted to try to explain herself to her owner. She didn't get the chance because of what he said to them.

"Just…just head back home. I'll decide of what to do then." He explained to them while pointing to the door. Both of them walked through the doorway slowly while occasionally looking up at his anger/hurt facial expression.

"I better…" The genius began to say when the two higher ranked animals were gone. The hero saw that the one behind all of this was about to leave, but didn't want him to just yet.

"Where do you think you're going?" He questioned after effortlessly leaping over the suit and landed right in front of him. The delusional dictator was terrified over what the boy would to do him since everyone has heard what he had done to the batting cages wall among other spots locations throughout the lot.

"I was just about to tell the others to stop making your outfit." He lied to the warrior. The human narrowed his eyes before speaking to the vermin.

"Talk." He ordered to his friend. For some unknown reason he was getting the feeling that only through fear would he be able to get the answers that he was looking for.

"In all honesty while you were here there were things going on." He said to the hot tempered hero; this caused him to calm down a bit, and stare at the person in question. "The females around here have…admired you, but the men have feared you for one reason or another, so I decided that if they wore your clothes then perhaps everyone would win." He said to Ash, and it was then that the boy saw the strange logic of this plane.

"Well, you didn't have to steal. You could have easily just asked." He said calmly to the genius. The white headed man breathed a sigh of relief as he could hear the wanderer had calmed down greatly.

"Thank you for understanding." He said to the trainer.

"I do have one quick question." Ash said to the scientist. This caught the pioneer of clothes manipulation's attention. "Why did you steal almost all of my clothes. I mean with the stuff around here you could have cloned just one outfit and changed the clones to fit the others." He said to him.

"I appreciate the compliment, Ash, and the reason is simple we all have also noticed that you're body doesn't seem the right shape for your clothes anymore." He commented back. It was then that Ash flexed his arms and bent his knees, and realized that the egghead was right.

"Guess you do have a good point." Ash said back after standing upright. "I suppose it's from my time at the gym and working on all of those sports." He said to his wiser friend.

"Give me a minute, and I will see just who's body you're even with." He said to the well toned traveler. He flipped a switch causing a visor to go over his eyes, and through the small device he was able to compare Ash's current shell to any other living or animated. After a few moments he received his answer. "You seem to be near the build of Jason David Frank." He explained.

'Good fighter, if I recall.' Ash thought and recalled the video footage over his fighting skills. 'That's good…' He thought and felt honored to be compared to such a brawler until he saw two lone bags on the floor. 'But that's not.' He finished while going to the bags.

"Um, no offense, Ash, but that was kind of harsh. How you treated those two." Pinky said after putting a cap on Pharfignewton. Ash silently nodded he took the bags and left, but not before adding:

"Don't worry about the glass; I will buy you a new door." The four of them looked at one another: astounded that he still hasn't grasped their logic. It was the female, who was in his outfit, only smaller, that spoke out.

"Don't you worry about that door. We can handle it." He nodded and walked on. Unknown to him Brain pulled out a large container of glue and a rather large paint brush, and with a flick of the robot's wrist the glue fixed the door. 'He still don't get it.' She thought as she watched the big brain close the door.

'I know that I was harsh at them, but I hope that they will forgive me.' Ketchum thought as he walked back home. After recalling how he jumped the gun the human didn't feel like getting home the fun way. Nothing happened on the way back aside from seeing the others wearing his clothes, but at the moment all he was thinking about was Rita and Runt.

"It was nice while it lasted." Rita muttered while laying on the couch. She was still upset over what had happened back at the make shift store.

"What do you think he's going to do to us, Rita?" The canine questioned before cringing at his own thoughts.

"After realizing that we had a paw in this he may kick us out, or maybe…" The female answered back, but it was at that time that a new, familiar voice was heard.

"Or maybe he would ask for your forgiveness for jumping the gun." The hero's voice said.

"Ash?" The two questioned as one while looking over the couch and saw the human in question, but they both saw that his eyes now held a pleading scene on them.

"As I said: I'm sorry that I jumped the gun. It's just I guess I was just angry because it looked like you were the true cause of this fad, so I'm sorry." He said to them, but as soon as he said that that the two of them attacked him: Runt wrapped as best as he could around their friend's legs while Rita nuzzled his neck.

"We forgive you." She said to him happily before happily adding, "If there's one thing that worries us more then angered Ash it's pathetic Ash." He felt himself wanting to growl, but instead he just smiled.

"Thank you." He said to her while holding the smile before feeling the weight in his hands and remembered the items. "By the way I decided to take the outfit's the both of you wanted. Think of it as a peace offering for my behavior." He said to them. Both the dog and the cat gave him the chance to place the bags on the floor, and take out what was inside.

"I'll dress in the bathroom." The feminine feline explained before dashing off to the stated rooms.

'That was odd.' Ketchum commented before dressing up Runt. In truth the monster tamer did not like this, but he noticed that the canine did; in fact he was humming happily as he did so.

"Well, how do I look?" Rita asked the two after a few sparse seconds in the bathroom to put on the outfit. The two of them turned to the doorway leading to the bedroom and saw the clothed cat.

"You really do pull off my look really well, Rita." He said to her in an honest tone. It was then that he added, "Brain said that I practically outgrew my clothes, and if that's the case then…maybe you could help me out with that." She gave a mock pondering pose since all three of them already knew the answer.

"I'd like that." She said back, and knew full well that she was blushing about just that. The three soon decided to relax, eat, go to bed, and prepare for the next day. A day of giving the dimensional traveler a wardrobe makeover.


	8. Chapter 8

Ash, and other mentioned characters are owned by Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Animaniac and Freakazoid characters are owned by Warner Brothers

Chapter 8

Change of uniform

Young Ketchum woke up early the next morning to the sight of Rita's still slumbering face. 'I could really get used to that sight every morning.' The hero thought as he gazed at the feline. Instead of waiting for her to wake on her own he instead carefully picked her up and placed her on the empty space of bed to his right. 'Time for a quick shower since I really do need some new clothes.' He thought before looking back at the cat, and could only smile since Rita had fallen asleep in cat sized version of his outfit.

'Something's wrong.' The feline questioned to herself while trying to stay asleep, but the gnawing feeling that something was different got to her. The green eyed one looked around and at first everything seemed ordinary: same place that she called home, same snoring old friend, and same bed where she always slept. It was that last part that got her attention. 'Wait a second. I don't sleep on the bed I sleep on…Ash.' She thought before frantically looking around and in plain sight saw no sign of him.

'Guess that's it then.' A part of her thought in defeat as the body slowly walked over to the warriors pillow and laid her entire body there. 'Maybe Brain copied his suit because he had come up with a way to send him home.' The same side of her emotions thought which caused the others to counter.

'No. No, Ash wouldn't leave without saying good-bye.' As she was in deep thought while staying on his pillow a person walked out of the bathroom with nothing but a bath towel around his waist.

"Is everything okay, Rita?" He questioned to her, and at that moment her worry was replaced with sheer happiness. The cat quickly stood up, but right when she turned the creature lost her footing and was about to take a tumble, but the visitor's quick hand saved her. "Are you okay?" He questioned again after placing her on the bed.

'I wonder if I should tell him my fear…no then he may not want to go back on my account.' The 'house pet' thought before smiling back at the human. "I'm just fine, kid. By the way - thanks for the save." She said before walking to the edge and hopped off. The female feline was about to walk on until she heard him continue.

"I was just curious since it sounded like someone was sobbing out here, so I was just making sure that you were fine." Ketchum said back since he did hear something after he stopped the shower. As soon as she heard that the young creature began to get nervous.

'Oh man, does he already suspect?' She thought, but decided to use her old friend as a scapegoat. "I heard it too. Must be Runt, guess he's just hungry." The out of towner heard her input and decided she was on the level.

"Yeah. Guess your right. Let me suit up, and I'll fix us the usual." He said back to her. With a nod as a reply the human went back inside to put on the only outfit he had left.

'I should stop thinking like that. He's still here, and I should enjoy it…while I can.' Rita thought as she sat in her usual spot - ready for some canned cat food and cream on the side. After a few short moments the young hero walked out of the bathroom, and headed over to the Kitchen. As soon as he was in the first thing that he did was gently stroke the spot of fur in between her ears; which she loved, and then set off to the making of their meal.

'Is that?' Runt questioned as a familiar for a while smell hit his nostrils again. 'Oh, boy! Ash is making Breakfast.' He thought with glee before racing into the chosen room. Once the meal was made he divided it among himself and Runt and then gave Rita her usual.

'Oh, oh this is so good.' The gray furred girl thought since she knew that Ash often seasoned the canned food before giving it to her which she loved, and the canine still loved the food the human gave to him as well.

"Okay, I know that today is another day off for all of you, but could one of you two help me find some new clothes?" Ketchum questioned before adding, "Training and battling with Pokemon, helping people, and eating: I can do, but I have no clue what to look for when it comes to fashion." He confessed to them; this explanation got a chuckle from the cat: who always eats in a nice and clean fashion.

"I guess a powerhouse like you has to have some flaws." She muttered under her breath while looking over her partner, and that was when she realized that he was looking back at her with a questioning look on his face.

"What did you say, Rita?" The monster tamer questioned since he did hear her say something, but he just couldn't make out what it was.

"I…I said that I'd be happy to help you." She said back to him since it was true - she did want to upgrade his wardrobe since she was wearing a copy of his outfit. After he washed, dried, and put up the dishes the hero saw that Rita was missing.

"Where are you, Rita?" He questioned while looking around his room.

"I'm in here. I thought that if we're going shopping then it's better if I go as I should." She said back to him and walked out on all fours with just her white and gray fur. The human smiled at her since he did believe that she looked better this way then with clothes.

"What about me, Ash? Huh? Huh? What about me?" Runt questioned to his friend since he wanted to know what the human had for him.

"If it's all the same to you. How about you just rest here, and when I come back I'll have a nice big bone for you." Ash said to the canine since he had a feeling that due to his framework having him around would do more harm then good; hopefully the promise of a bone will tide him over.

"Hmm, okay." The canine said before rushing over to the couch, and flopped right on it. No sooner then he did that the pooch passed out.

"I guess that takes care of that." Ketchum commented, surprised that he was fast asleep already. "Shall we be going?" He questioned after kneeling down with his right hand touching the ground.

"Let's shall." She said back while racing up his arm and then flipped around once she reached his shoulder to where her back was with Ash's back. When the two were done they headed out.

"Do you think the others would be able to help me out?" The Pallet protector questioned while in the elevator. It was at that moment the feline imaged the other females knocking her off the human and caring to impress him over helping him with his wardrobe problem.

"No, no I don't." The cat answered back with a shake of her head. Her answer confused the creature controller since he believed the more people helping with this the faster it would be, but he trusted her decision non the less. Neither of them said anything else in the elevator, and were about to leave until they were stopped by a familiar a face at the front door.

"What is it, CJ?" The monster master questioned to the floating man at the door. Due to an embarrassing first meeting Ketchum learned that it was to use his initials or at the least one half of his total name.

"Oh. Nothing much. Just thought I'd stop by to say 'HI' and to warn you that your groupies are at the front gate." The hero outfitted man said before adding, "Now I've got to the Bowling Alley I promised Longhorn I'd play a few frames with him." That said he floated off to the company Bowling building.

"Well, that was nice of him to do. Wasn't it, Rita?" Ash said as he exited the rest of the way from the building. After walking down the small flight of stone steps he was about to step in the usual direction until the fierce feline spoke out.

"Not that way, Ash." She said to him to get his attention. "Didn't you hear him, the rest of them are already there?" She questioned and should have known that this was going to happen since everyone had one of his outfits.

"So, I'm sure that they won't mind moving out of the way so we can go somewhere." Ash said to her in a confident tone. The feline knew that the boy meant well, but there were times that he could be a little dense.

"I'm not so sure of that, Ash. I do know of another way out of here." She stated and explained to him. The raven haired warrior turned his head to face her with a curious look in his eyes. "It'll be fine. Just follow my instructions, don't make a scene, and we should be fine." The green eyed one said to him.

"Alright, Rita, I trust you." He said to her, and with that they headed out. Sadly, no sooner then they made their tenth step that one of the girls spotted them.

'There he is.' The mink thought before saying to the others. "You know I don't think he's coming this way…maybe." She started to say, but stopped when a rather large snake slithered over to them and whispered something in his mistress.

"What!" She shouted in surprise once the message was delivered. She looked in the direction her minion told her about. "He's over there." She shouted to them causing all to turn in the direction she was pointing.

'So much for him being my target only.' Minerva thought before finishing with, 'I'll just have to be faster than them.' That thought finished the lot of them headed over to the boy.

"I didn't know that the studio had earthquakes." Ketchum said when he felt his shoes begin to shake. When the vibrations hit his traveling partner she decided to turn and saw that it was everyone else heading straight for them.

"Don't just stand there, Ash. Run." The feline shouted at him, and he did as she said. Even with his impressive speed the others still stay in pace with him no matter how many turns the cat told him to take.

"It'sss time, my pet." Cobra Queen said to the brown boa creature beside her. As soon as he heard that the beast began to rise up while slithering, and of course this movement was noticing by one of Ash's closest friends - Minerva Mink.

"Aw, no you don't." She said and gently grabbed the circular surface, and then leapt on to it. 'If this lady this crazy stunt will work; she has another thing coming.' The white furred beauty thought before running upward.

"What is wrong with you, worm?" She questioned to her servant after seeing his eyes went from focused to very pleased. 'It couldn't be.' She thought before turning to face the white/blonde creature that all guys sat down and took notice of.

"Did you honestly think that this would work?" The friend of the fighter questioned since she believed that she deserved a straight answer.

"Because that kid, Ash, needs a real woman not some plush toy with attitude." The serpent seductress said with a calm smile. She saw the other angered over what was said, and was trying her best not to blow, but was not succeeding.

"What did you say?" The beastly beauty questioned with her eyes flaring with anger.

"I said…" That was as far as she got in terms of repeating herself since the mink starting to fight with the other. The snake they were riding could not seem to continue to travel with the fight going on, so he bucked them off.

'I'm going to get yelled at - I know, but it had to be done.' The brown scaled one thought as he watched the two fall. As they continued to fight Ash heard the commotion above him.

"I've got to save them." He said causing the cat to turn at him with an 'are you nuts' expression, but he did it just the same. He changed his stance from standing to bracing with both arms at the ready. He was able to stretch his arms in the angry cloud of dust and pulled them apart.

"Listen, I don't want Ash to have a latex fetish, so for the last time - go away." The one hanging on his left hand shouted in rage.

"I wasn't going to go for latex. I wanted to see if he looked good in leather jacket." The scaly one shouted back as she hung by the man in question's right hand. It was then the ref stepped in.

"Can you talk as though I'm not in the same area." The trainer said to the two of them causing them to stop arguing and face him. At the same time the two of them saw his smile and gentle feel in his eyes the two stopped their arguing…for the moment. "Now, I guess you girls want to help me with my clothes?" He questioned all of them once the rest were where they were

"Yeah, we thought you might like some company to do that." A blonde haired girl said to the hero who gently placed both girls feet on the ground. He smiled at her since he liked that idea, and these ladies really seemed genuine.

"Okay, you two can come." Ketchum said to the lot of them before turning on his heels. They followed after him despite the cat's surprised jaw expression.

"I better go after them so they don't get something too out there for him." The cat whispered before running after them. The walk outside the studio was not too impressive just small talk to one another and the monster tamer listening to them. It was not until they were outside the wall, and halfway to the store that one of them brought up an important statement.

"What kind of clothes are you interested in, Ash?" Katie Ka-Boom, a girl with a hulking out problem, questioned to him calmly. This brought all of them in a truthful thinking since all of the images running through their minds were outfits that they thought he would look good in.

"She does bring up a good point. So, how about it, Ash, what do you like in terms of style?" Another blonde by the name of Steph questioned since she really wanted to know what he thought of fashion before getting him anything.

"Style? I don't really worry about fads or anything like that. Just an average hat, a T-shirt, jeans, and maybe a pair of sneakers." The raven haired youth said back to her since he really didn't care about looks or fashion.

'That's easy enough.' Dot thought to herself even though a piece of her wondered what he would look like in the royal attire from their one and only movie - Wakko's Wish. The rest of the trip was left with silence as all of them were thinking over what top would look good on him.

"So…this is your world's store, huh?" The trainer questioned after getting an eyeful of the rather large building before him. 'It's as tall as that store Whitney showed us, but at the same time it's as wide as the Celadon City store.' The traveler thought before walking in, and no sooner then his hand touched the doorknob that he found himself in front of the clothes store.

'Now time to find something for my man.' The leather skinned lady thought while looking through the shirts. She had just found a very nice solid navy blue T-Shirt when the woman sensed something a looked up.

"How about that guy wear one of my colors." The snake, who had to stay outside due to his size, said in his native tongue while looking at his mistress through a skylight window.

"Alright. I will." She told her servant before moving onto the shoe section of the store. As she was doing that the others were also trying to find the right thing for him, and prayed that he would like what they had picked out for him. Not wanting them to got through so much trouble and him not doing a thing Ash, with Rita on his shoulder, checked out the jeans.

'Those girls can pick out whatever they want this human will look good in anything.' The feline thought before watching him looking at a pair that he might want.

"These feel just like my usual ones." Ketchum said with a smile, and decided to dash off to the changing room to see how they fit, but as soon as he got inside the hero suddenly remembered his traveling buddy…a little too late. "There that takes care of my old jeans now to give these a try." He said and was about to try on the new pair until a voice spoke to him.

"Uh…Ash I don't think I should be in here." Rita explained while trying to keep her blush to herself since she was now getting an eyeful of the trainer's boxer shorts. This comment the boy in question to turn and face her.

"What do you mean, Rita?" He questioned to her since he never did feel awkward when she was around so why was she being like this now. Unable to look him in the eye she simply pointed down with her paw. 'Look down?' He questioned to himself before doing so and realized the problem.

'Finally you get it.' The feline thought as she felt his hands under her two front legs, and after opening the door he placed her on the floor.

"I think your right. It's better if you just stay out there." He said to her before shutting the door with an embarrassed red face. Unknown to him, she too had that same tone of red on her fur, but was able to hold it when she heard the sound of hangers rattling.

'Sounds like they're almost done.' The cat thought in annoyance since they all probably got something perverted. The others in question were actually doing quite nicely - even Minerva who was checking out sports gear even though at first she spent a good ten minutes in the Speedo section.

'I shouldn't go with something like those. I am trying to impress Ash, and those would do the opposite.' The mink thought as she was looking at their sneakers. In truth she was not like that, nor were the others, but sometimes primal instincts dictate them to do something different.

"These jeans fit as good as my old ones." Ketchum said after giving them the traditional sitting test; the boy even stretched around in them, and they still felt great. "These are what I'm going to get." The trainer said before adding, "I better see…" He was stopped by a knock on the door, and as he did he finished his comment in surprise, "…how the others are doing." Standing before him were the ten, plus Rita, that went with him.

"You're kind of slow aren't you, Ash." Katie questioned with a smile, but the boy gave them a sheepish smile before opening his door all the way.

"Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry if I kept you." He stated and apologized to them which they answered back with shacks of their heads.

"Don't be sorry we just have a feeling over what you want." Steph said to him to help put his worried mind at ease. He smiled at that, and then they began starting with the Girlfeathers who was trying to keep the shirt that they picked out level on their heads.

"We got you this. We hope you like it." Sasha, leader of the Girlfeathers, said to the hero who picked up the shirt and looked at it. The shirt was none too special except for the picture on it: a family of falcons. He closed the door and swapped out his shirt for the new shirt.

"Feels and looks great." He said after opening the door and revealing that it fit perfectly around his body. They all had to agree that he really did look good with those Peregrine Falcons on him.

"MY TURN!" The youngest of the Warners shouted aloud causing the fellow females to cover their ears as soon as they were distracted she bolted right up to him. "Try it on. Try it on." She said more calmly to the man she was trying to impress.

"Uh…okay, Dot." He said to her before taking what she had picked out for him. The trainer then went inside and tried it on. In truth the monster master did not know what to make of such an article of clothing. 'I better try it on, so I don't hurt her feelings.' He thought and did just that. Once it was all done the girls saw what the black and white creature picked out.

'He looks decent, but seriously she chose that.' Minerva thought as she looked at the out of towner. The trainer was currently wearing an old fashioned frilly 18th century outfit.

"Surely you can do better than that, Dot." The queen of the snakes said in blunt fashion. The young lady glared at the taller woman since she did not appreciate that comment until she looked around and saw that she got disapproving looks from the others.

"Fine. Fine. I'll find something else." She shouted out of anger before taking the outfit and running away. The motion happened so fast that Ketchum did not realize he was in his boxers until he felt a draft.

'She could have at least given me a chance to get out of the outfit first.' He thought with red face. His embarrassment lasted only a few seconds due to Freakazoid's friend pushing what she had decided on into his face.

"Try these on, Ash." She said quickly before slamming the door shut. He looked at the pieces of clothing and knew what they were, but was not sure if they were really him. Like the last outfit he tried them on none the less.

"This outfit will really help me when ever I get back to collecting Pokemon." He said to them as they all saw that he was now in camouflage outfit. They all knew that he was not a hunter, but he still looked good in it, and they also liked how he did not hurt the young blonde's feelings.

"These are from Mindy and me." Katie said to the trainer as she handed him three shirts. "The two on top are from her and the third one is one that I picked out." She explained to him, but unlike her fellow blonde Miss Ka-Boom let Ash close the door on his own.

'Let's see what we got here.' He thought and picked up the first of three. The first shirt was a red T-shirt with a blue faced man with green hair and five kids. He turned it around and saw a woman with black hair wearing a purple dress of some sort. "Pretty." He whispered before trying it on.

"Ooh." The young blonde said as she and the others saw the hero wearing one of two of the shirts the child has picked out. He liked the feel, and he had seen a few episodes so he knew what the characters were all about. He then went back inside and went for the second shirt.

'This shirt reminds me that I'm not from this world.' Ash thought in a downhearted tone when he saw a shirt with images of: dragons, rock monsters, tigers, birds, and lizard creatures, there were others but those six stuck out. 'I still like the shirt though.' He thought before putting on a happy face and opened the door.

"That shirt also looks good on you." Steph said in a cheerful voice, but the others could see that he was not very happy since they knew that shirt probably made him remember his home. Luckily the last three came to his rescue and handed him the clothes they picked out.

"Here, try these on." Hello Nurse said and handed him her outfit for him; the others did the same. He nodded and shut the door behind him. The trainer had a gut feeling that they knew he liked the shirt, but not with everything he had.

'Maybe these will be okay.' He thought but decided to try on the shirt Katie gave to him. The hero made a quick swap, and showed it to them.

'I still don't think green is a good look for him.' Rita thought, but knew that if it was in the form of a uniform, maybe, but as standard issue outfit maybe not. The shirt Katie picked out fit her nature to a 't' since it was a Hulk T-shirt.

"Now let's try on one of the new three." He said to them before putting on the outfit that Minerva gave to him. This outfit was simple: a red sleeveless shirt, jean shorts, and black and white sneakers. 'No surprise that she got my shoe size right considering Brain gave it to her when he was copying my outfit.' He thought before presenting himself to the others.

"Seems kind of ssspoty." Cobra Queen said as she took a simple glance at it. The others thought the same thing, but at the same time they did think the look suited him due to all of his travels, and the training here he would have to be in shape.

"Time for the second one." He said to them and then began trying on the outfit that Hello Nurse gave to him. This one was a bit more formal, but at the same time casual: white polo shirt, beige dress pants, and black dress shoes, and once he was done testing it he showed it to the spectators.

'He does look good.' They all thought as they saw this outfit. To them he really did look good, and to a degree even more handsome. He smiled at their happy facial expressions before going back inside.

'That one went over well, so I wonder how they will like me in this last outfit.' He thought as he looked at the outfit that the leather based lady gave to him. This outfit was: dark navy blue T-shirt, black jeans, and dark brown boots. Just like the others it all felt comforting on his body - even the boots.

'Now he really looks desirable.' Cobra Queen thought with a happy smile.

'He looks odd without a single bright color, but at the same time not bad.' Rita, who saw them all, thought as she looked up at him. The others were very happy over the articles of clothing that they had bought for him, and so was he. The trainer closed the door one more time, so that he could change back to his original outfit.

"Thank you for the clothes. I like them all, and since I can't decide I guess we should take them all." He said and got a HUGE roar of praise from his small group. "So, I guess we should -." He was about to say until a sharp whistle caused him to stop and hold his ears; the others followed his lead since it even hurt their ears.

"Hold everything!" Dot screamed even though she already had their attention. "I have the perfect outfit for Ash War-er, I mean Ketchum." The young girl said while holding up a bag. "Please try it on, please." She pleaded to the man in question.

"Okay, I will, but this will be the last one." He said to her, and then went into the changing room for the last time. 'Wow, this is a new one.' He thought before putting it on. The trainer was grateful that it fit, but he was not expecting what he was putting on was from the youngest of the Warner siblings.

'Whoa.' The others thought as they saw the man before them. It was Ash, but the outfit that he was wearing caught them off guard - it was a tuxedo, and they all knew that it was for Wedding purposes.

"So, what do you…think?" He questioned, but stalled as he saw them dash off.

'Gotta find it. Gotta find it.' They all thought as they scoured throughout the clothes department, and after a few seconds came back with what they were looking for.

"Where were you guys just now?" The hero questioned them once they came back. All eleven girls knew that he wanted the truth, but they came prepared with their own cover story.

"We just decided to get some casual T-shirts. Hope you don't mind Ash." The young mink said to him while holding the item up to him. Unable to get mad at friends he just smiled and said back to her:

"Just warn me when you girls leave. I'd hate for anything bad to happen to you." The group of eleven sighed after hearing him say that; believing that it was for them alone. Once he changed back into his original outfit they paid and left for the studio.

"Are you sure that you like what we got you?" Katie questioned to him in concern since she did not want to disappoint him. The monster tamer looked at her with a kind smile, and let his face answer her question for him - which it did.

"Thanks again, all, but I think we should call it a day." Ash said to them once they were back in the studio. "Let's go home, Rita." He said to the gray furred wonder who eagerly followed him inside.

"Home. What a wonderful word.' She thought before entering the building. She liked the idea of being with the trainer, but she still prayed that they would not find a portal for him to go home to.

'Do I still want to go home?' Ash questioned to himself as he looked at the creature shirt that Mindy gave to him. The hero decided to shelve that thought for another day.


	9. Chapter 9

Ash, and other characters are owned by Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Animaniacs Freakazoid characters are owned by Warner Brothers

Chapter 9

Sports day:

Baseball

Once Ash's routine was done with Rita and Runt the trio was called into the auditorium by Mr. Plotz orders. The three of them walked and no sooner than they did that the other girls came over to him. "How did you sleep, Ash?" Minerva questioned in concern while eyeing the cat since all of them knew she always slept on his chest.

"I'm fine Minerva, thanks for asking." He said back to her with a smile before politely walking past them, and sitting down. The girls did the same, but to make it not so blaringly obvious that they wanted the kid. 'Still, what is the problem? I have been able to keep the Warner's in check.' He thought and then added with sorrow, 'Sort of reminds me how excited I was about chasing Pokemon.' The hero decided to focus since his big time friend had approached the microphone.

"Attention, attention." He said to get their interest, but he was failing. 'I guess I'll have to raise my voice and my blood pressure.' He thought and was about to do so until his new friend stood up and spoke to the rowdy lot.

"Guys, lets worry about our personal problems later. Right now we should pay attention to Mr. Thaddeus Plotz." He said to them causing them all to simmer down, and look at the stage before them.

'I'm gonna miss this easy way to avoid yelling when he leaves.' The CEO thought before bringing himself back to the business at hand. "As you know our latest temp has been getting interested into sports, and after some time I finally convinced our rival to have a few games with us." He said to them, and just as he was expecting the trio stepped in front of him with ideas over what he meant by games.

"Gin?" Wakko suggested after pulling a small table from his bottomless bag of tricks.

"Nah, It's got to be - Texas Hold'em?" Yakko questioned before spinning and stopping to where he wore a Texan hat, and spurs. The head of it all groaned at their guesses, but he was surprised at what Dot had to say:

"A bachelor auction?" She questioned before grabbing and dragging the hero from another world to the stage below. Once there she spun him once and as soon as he was done spinning the trainer saw that only a brown loincloth was the only thing keeping him censored.

"What are you thinking Dot!" The mink shouted while holding her nose due to the blood ready to shoot from that appendage. The other girls were in the same boat, but hid it nicely. The trainer looked down and wondered how the brown cloth would look like in yellow and black.

"Whoops. Too far!" She shouted in surprise before spinning again, and once he stopped the hero stood there in his groom suit with slicked back hair and sunglasses on his face.

'Now that's much better. That other outfit made him look like Dinner. It was at that moment Cobra Queen shook her head due to the…evil thought that appeared in her head.

"Certainly not the last one, Warner." Thaddeus said to her while trying not to shout in anger at her. She gave him a scoff, spun the trainer back to his original outfit, and headed back to her seat with her brothers.

'That was really subtle, Ms. Warner.' The well dressed skeleton thought as he watched the three pass him on the way to their chairs. The silent man, as well as the others listened to what their boss had to say.

"Today is the last day of our sports marathon and he has chosen - Baseball." The older man exclaimed with joy. Most of the others groaned because just like their other sports days: Football, Basketball, Soccer, Swimming, Track & field, Tennis, and Bowling they relied on Ketchum, and unlike them he did not know how to combine comedy with sports like the others have.

"I mean no offense, Mr. Plotz, but why do we have to continue to do this marathon?" The psychiatrist said aloud, voicing the opinions that the others were thinking. "I mean won't they get tired of losing?" He continued to talk even though he knew that he was digging his own grave.

"Maybe, but I really want to rub it in their faces." The blue suited man said with a smile while patting the chosen man on the back. That statement confused the hero since he did not know what he was getting at. Before the hero of Pallet Town could say anything a voice shouted out in the crowd.

"What are ya talking about Plotz?" An elderly wolf shouted out in disgust since the hero had gotten on his nerves since the first day.

"Dah! Yeah! Aint he um…uh…hmm…still a…training monster." Billy the brain dead bison said with a slobbery stutter. That action caused the squid beside him to wipe the water substance off of his face.

"Monster trainer, you numbskull." The multi-armed man pointed out after all the spit was off of his face. The others knew that what the trio said was true: they all knew that much was true.

"I mean that with Ash we can handle all the sports so far, and Baseball won't be any different." The leader of the business said at first and then cheered out of excitement.

'I guess that is good.' The chicken thought even though he did not like the idea of continuing to use their new friend as a weapon. In fact, none of them liked an idea like that.

"As I've told you the past seven times I don't view Ash as a weapon. I just thought you guys would like to win instead of lose to those chumps." He shouted back to them. The group was about to correct him that they did it for fun, but knew that he was right.

'It would be nice to actually play instead of being used as a distraction.' The medical one thought since she did not like the boasting her enemies have done once they won all of their other matches. After getting the idea some thought they all looked at the hero that they were talking about to see what his answer was.

"I will continue to fight on the Warner Brothers team. Besides these games are pretty fun." The raven haired youth told them with a confident smile since he had a feeling that they might still need his help despite their impressive group of characters.

"Great, the Baseball game against them is tomorrow morning, so I want you all to relax and get psyched." Plotz said to them which caused them to give him purely shocked faces since that was hardly enough time to get the least bit prepared..

"Hey, this is no sweat with Ash around we can't lose." The newest of Goodfeathers said to all of them. The others started to verbally agree with that comment, but despite that this was good praise the out of towner decided to set the record straight with them.

"Guys, fellas, I appreciate the praise, but remember it would not be wise to make a plan around one specific man." He said to them and they knew that he was probably speaking out of experience since he most likely didn't use just one Pokemon his entire career.

"We already know that Ash. We'll take our spots out there and you hit it out of the park." Dot shouted with hearts coming out of her head; a trick that still left the hero confused over how she can do such a thing.

"Just reminding you is all." He said before adding, "I guess we're done for now." The hero turned and received a nod from the CEO, and no sooner that he did that the whole group left.

"I suppose we should just go to our homes and prepare for tomorrow." The brain creature - The Lobe, said as they were walking out of the auditorium. In truth even the girls didn't have any better ideas.

"Sounds good, Lobe." Their newest member said before finishing with, "We can go and get some rest for the match in the morning." They knew that the two men were right despite their tendency just to goof off. "I'll come up with a roster and hand it over to Plotz since he has been in charge of us the last few times." He informed before heading to bed.

"I guess we should be doing the same." Guitierrez said while standing in his civilian form before heading to his home. The others followed his lead, and Rita along with Runt went into the same building as Ash.

'He must be one heck of a trainer with all of the strange combinations he's used all those other times.' Minerva thought on her way back home while trying to shake off the feeling of depression from her person since she didn't want to think of that day in time.

"Now, how should it go down." Ash questioned while having a drawing of a baseball diamond before him as he sat on his bed. The trainer knew that a team can only have a certain amount of players on the field at certain times, so that was a problem.

"Everything okay, Ash?" The gray furred one said after she and her partner got into the apartment. She saw that he was hard at work on their game plan.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just making some last minute ideas." He said to them and then added, "I'll fix some lunch in a while." They believed him and then let him get to work. A couple of hours passed by and the boy looked at his idea with a pleased smile.

"Did ya come up with a good plan, Ash? Huh, huh? Did ya?" Runt questioned while enjoying his meal. The hero from another world looked at them with a smile, and knew that they wanted to know if they were on it, but he wanted that to be a surprise.

"Sorry, my canine friend, but no hints. You're going to have to wait until morning to find out where I have planned to put you." He said back to his friend before going back to eating. They both knew that they could trust his strange judgment since it worked for them before.

"Alright Ash, I guess we can wait that long." Rita said back while purring due to how good the food was. After a few hours the three of them went to bed in the usual spots, and stayed that way until morn. There was another part of the studio who's occupants were thinking of the game.

'What would my tiny friend have planned for me and my darling Maria.' The blue hippo known as Favio questioned in his head even though he was right to point him and her as goalies at the Soccer game. Another was also thinking of the same thing:

'Yah. I know that Ash had faith in me when I scored that perfect game during our bowling match, but I don't want to let him down in Baseball.' Dr. Scratchnsniff thought as he lied awake in bed just staring at the ceiling.

'The kid was right. I was good at swimming.' A familiar grey squirrel thought as she recalled how she was able to out swim pros from the other team with little effort. 'But that's still no reason for me to use that stuff.' She thought while looking over at the end table and saw a container given to her by an old friend.

'Leave it to Ash to have faith in a scrawny man like me could actually be good in Football.' The mime thought as he recalled the time he imagined such a moment and got clobbered, but it was the trainer that told him that he could do it.

He actually made the right call using me when it came to that.' Cobra queen thought as she recalled how effortlessly she dodged all the Basketball players when that day arrived. The snake charmer also recalled how many three pointers she made as well. "Thanks for that memory, Mr. Ketchum." She muttered before going to sleep on her throne.

'I know that I should be wanting to rip Ash apart for how Minerva is falling for him, but I can't and I know why - she only dug me in my muscular form, but aside from that: she could care less.' A book smart wolf thought as he stared at the new moon sky above him. 'Aside from that I owe him for giving me the confidence of playing and winning at Tennis.' He thought with a smile before going to bed.

'Track and field for a chicken who'd a thought of such a thing.' Boo thought as he slept. When it came to that the trainer didn't put his faith in the speed based men, but rather others; ones that no one would ever think would win a match: Skippy, Mr. Skullhead, and himself Chicken Boo for the relay at least.

'Really hope I know what I'm doing.' Ash thought as he laid on his bed, still wondering if the people that he had chosen were the right call. Ketchum eventually let that idea go, and focused on resting for the final sporting event. The rest of the night went off without a hitch and one was ready the next morning.

"Are you ready for this morning's game." A voice questioned to the youth causing him to stir from his slumber. The person that the question was aimed at opened his eyes and was welcomed by the felines face. "You must have needed the snooze. Usually you're the first one to wake up not us." She informed with a sly smile. The hero placed her on the bed before sitting up and let out a yawn.

"Yeah. Guess I did." He said to her before standing up, and added, "I'll take a shower and then feed you two. After that we'll probably need to be going." He said to his…roommate before grabbing a new pair of boxers and headed for the shower. 'I need to remind myself - I'm not from around here, and despite how fun making these teams are I need to find a way home.' He thought while undressing and going into the one man shower.

"Here comes another great meal definitely, definitely another great meal." Runt shouted after hearing the sound of the shower running and knew that was a sign that his meat mountain was coming. The big dog got up and sat in his usual spot ready for his food.

'I guess this has become a routine for us.' Rita thought as she heard her friend's happy panting. She too sat at her spot - ready to eat just as badly as him. Again the feline tried not to think of bad thought as she waited for him. Eventually the trainer got out of the shower, and was about to put on his clothes until…

'I've got to talk to Brain about sending me back.' He thought with gloom but put on a happy mask and walked out to meet his two friends. "Hope you guys are ready because I'm gonna give you guys thirds over what I usually give you." He said to them causing the dog to bark excitedly after hearing that, but the other saw something different.

'Something's not right.' The cat of the house questioned in her mind after hearing his statement. 'Is he still on the fence about leaving us?' She thought again and realized that she, and possibly the others, were also on the fence when it came to him leaving as well.

After we eat let's meet up with the others so we can get to our game together." Their caretaker said to them while eating his own meal, and aside from Runt's chomping Breakfast was eerily quiet. Once it was over the three of them left to meet the others at the front of the studio.

"So, is everyone ready to go?" Plotz questioned once everyone was at the bus. The group as a whole muttered something around a, 'yeah, ready to go'. He had a feeling as to why they were not happy and couldn't fault them for how they felt. "Then let's get started." He told them in a cheerful tone, and no sooner then the others went in the vessel left.

'I wonder what he's thinking about?' All of them questioned as they saw their ace in the hole looking through his window as the landscape past them by. The others have noticed that from time to time that he doesn't show off a happy smile rather a deep thought facial expression.

'I don't want to leave them, but I know I can't stay here.' Ash thought since he really didn't know what to do. Since they did not want to pry they all tried talking to someone else even though Hello Nurse, Cobra Queen, Dot, Minerva, and Rita often glanced over at their friend. Other than that the trip was neutral and they arrived at the diamond with little to no problem.

"So, you ready to lose to Baseball, like last year." The enemy's manager said to them as they all entered the diamond. The CEO of Warner Brothers just looked at him with a cocky grin, and the others showed zero fear over what he said.

"Considering that we beat you all those other times I can tell you that we came here to win it." The shorter manager shouted to the taller man. The opposing team for the past games scanned their team, and spotted something he had to gloat about.

"I wouldn't be so proud if I were you." He said back causing all of them to get confused, or pretend to, at what he said. "I don't see your secret weapon around." He explained to them with an overconfident grin. Unknown to him the trainer was issued to enter the dugout through their toon based back door.

'I don't get it. I'm as much of a player as anyone else, so why am I the only one to get in like this.' The monster tamer thought as he was walked into a black circle and entered a shadowed spot of the dugout. 'According to Joe Leahy it is to - increase dramatic tension, but I want to know why they treat their worlds greatest past time as a joke.' The hero thought as he sat in the corner.

"Let's play BALL!" The umpire shouted after they had a moment for the National Anthem which shocked the traveler that none of his friends interrupted that moment of the game. Ketchum gave to them a copy of the game plan and he followed it, but he could tell that they were not going to go as he planned.

"Mr. Pitcher, your not going to strike out this cute little face are you?" The mink questioned, but the rest of the team could hear it in her voice - she didn't put any playfulness into it. The man pitching got flustered and walked her to the first base. "Thanks sucker." She said while jogging to the first base.

'Wonder why there was not play in her tone.' The CEO thought while watching the team. At first they were doing okay until the middle where they had lost a good foothold in their game, but all of a sudden they lost it. 'I think he's waited long enough.' Plotz thought before looking at the corner. "Ash, your on." He said and with that the person in question got out from the dugout.

'Crap. I thought he had the flu or something.' The opposing CEO thought as the man in question with double zeros his jersey headed to the pitcher's mound since it was their turn for it.

"Sorry, Mr. Skullhead, looks like I'm on." He said to the '12' player. Naturally without a word he gave Ketchum the ball, and headed back to their dugout. Now armed with the ball the hero threw it at the batter, and it landed in the catcher's mitt without even a tap from the batter.

'Now, we have a game.' Plotz thought as he watched how Ketchum was carrying them back from the brink in this inning: at least for the first two people, but the third seemed to be a bit more relaxed than the others.

"Show me what you got." The man said and readied himself.

'This one might be a challenge.' Ash thought before throwing as best as he could not knowing that he added aura to his toss. He looked at the sphere, but was surprised that he was able to hit it, and was even more surprised of where it was going.

HA! Did it!" The man shouted in praise as he decided to savor it a little before getting a move on. A bad call on his part since the pitcher was already making his way over to the ball in question. As he was chasing after it on the ground an image appeared in his mind along with a phrase:

"Cable Arm." With that phrase came a right hand connected to a cable going right at the ball in question. With a quick shake of the head the Pallet Town protector was back in reality and still had a plan to use.

"Jack, glove me." The out of towner said after tossing his pitcher's mitt. The ghost like man did so, and then the kid added, "Longhorn, catapult mode." The minotaur man bent down just as he wanted, and the second his sneaker hit the right horn he was launched straight up. "Gotcha." He cheered as soon as his glove met with the baseball.

"You're out!" The umpire shouted as the batter just made it to the second base. Everyone was surprised that their friend high flying tactic worked. That was when they saw a problem: gravity.

"I will catch him." The maid to the hippos said as she was about to make good use of her giraffe neck until she saw three familiar birds fly up at him. Sasha grabbed the back of his collar while her friends Lana, and Kiki took to either of his sleeves.

"This isn't going to work." He warned them as the ground was coming up fast even with them flapping their wings as hard as they could. It was then the monster tamer motioned for the giraffe to come over to them. The moment the yellow furred Baseball player was close enough he said to them, "Drop me." The trio seemed scared at first but reluctantly did so.

'We have to trust him.' The three of them thought after they did the deed, and to their relief his plan sort of worked: he originally planned to slid on her back as he had seen on a program on Boomerang, but instead he fire poled her neck, and then landed in her arms.

"Well, this is embarrassing." Ash said to the woman holding him while trying to hold down a blush. She too seemed a bit nervous about the situation the two of them were in, but the others on the other hand did not like it.

'I must hurt her.' Some of them thought as they watched the long necked beauty place the other on the ground - feet first. When reality hit them both headed back to the dugout and waited for their turn at bat.

"Better not have gotten any funny ideas." The former shoplifter whispered to the returning savior since she wanted the maid to understand that what she may have felt was only a one time feeling before heading to home plate.

'That seriously could have gone better.' Ketchum thought as he once again sat in the corner despite the fact that the other team knew that he was there. He watched as his team was able do pretty well: Queen got a single as did Ralph and Favio; with them there the main foe of Freakazoid decided to bring them home:

"Thrill me?" He stated to his pitcher who threw the best curve ball he could muster, but it was still hit. As the game went on the scores kept flip flopping until it came to a tie.

"Go for it, Ash." They all said since they knew he turned down the hero spot for them at the other events on purpose, and they wanted this to be his moment. The boy in question got up and headed for the main plate, and on his way over he saw the pitcher shaking in place.

"Hey, pal…" The current batter said to his pitcher before adding, "Not to pressure you, but I want you to throw that ball with everything you've got." The request caused the person in question to be even more nervous. "Okay then…maybe you should try a pitching device if you don't think your ready for me." He stated when he saw his foe was scared witless.

'This'll be easy.' The pitcher thought before speeding off and coming back with a pitching machine and aimed it right over the plate.

"Maybe that thing will give me a challenge." Ketchum said as he really was getting excited over what he was seeing. The pitcher set it to the highest setting and then fired one shot. To their surprise his bat made contact and sent it flying.

"Whoa!" Several of his friends and spectators shouted in awe while others added, "Ouch! Momma! Good bye!, As the guys on the field scrambled to get the burning ball the batter ran to the bases as fast as he could.

'He won't get away the outfielder thought as he saw the enemy round over to third, and that's where he threw it. Ash landed on the base in question and once there he decided to go for a leap.

'Here goes everything.' He thought while unknowingly added aura to his feet for a better full forward leap. Seeing this the third baseman threw the ball at their catcher by home plate, but just as tradition would go for the winning point a huge cloud of dust covered the area.

'Did Ash show him up or will we have to do this stuff all over again.' Plotz thought as he watched the dust cleat, but the others had another thought in mind:

'Is Ash okay?' The dust finally settled and saw that the ball, that was still in play seemed to be touching the young man's head causing their boss to sulk until one of their players saw something changed.

"No, hat." Mindy said while pointing outward. The others saw what she meant - there was no hat on his head, just wild black hair. It wasn't until later that they saw he used his hat as an extension of his arm since the piece of clothing was touching the base while the ball was still off by a half an inch.

"Before you say anything ref, all I can say is that what he pulled can not be legal." The opposing couch said since to ref since to him that move should not count. This caused an argument on both sides. With that an argument started between the two of them, but after a few hours they came up with an answer.

"He'll accept it." Plotz shouted in victory to the others causing celebration by all. Everyone gave a lot of credit to their main player this time - Ash Ketchum, and in truth he liked what he heard.

'I guess I could tell Brain to get to getting me home in the morning.' The hero thought as he was enjoying the praise by all of his new friends, and had a feeling that his earlier thought could wait a little longer…couldn't it?


	10. Chapter 10

Ash, and other characters are owned by Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Animaniacs and Freakazoid characters are from Warner Brothers

Ultimatrix, and all alien forms are from Cartoon Network/Man of Action

Chapter 10

Ultimate Upgrade

The others were happy that they finally put their rivals in their place, but at the same time the oldest brother could tell that the human was still indecisive over wanting to leave or stay here. 'I hope this works.' Yakko thought after getting one specific item from the water tower vault. Once in hand the humanoid started walking down the road he knew the human to take.

'Another day with no one needing my help.' Ketchum thought after going to the usual people and came up dry for those that wanted his help. As he walked the human spotted a Warner heading straight for him. "Finally something to do." He muttered hi happiness, and was about to give chase…only to have the creature stand right in front of him.

"Hey, Ash, what do you know? What do you say?" The black/white creature said with a big grin on his face. "Wait don't answer that because I'll answer it for you." The creature said before adding, "Your about to be the proud owner of your very own Ultimatrix." With that the creature showed him that ball.

'Ulti-what?' The other thought while peeking in on the now half ball. Since he did not see anything the human tried reaching inside it, and was answered with something slipping on to his left wrist. "What is this?" The trainer questioned after seeing the armband.

"This is the Ultimatrix. It belongs to a show called 'Ben 10', but when Man of Action didn't like our idea of having the actor have all the heroes at ones, so we were left with a fully working watch, but no one to use it." The eldest Warner told the human who was looking at the device.

"That's pretty bad, but what's this do." Ketchum questioned before activating the dial and pressing it down with one finger. The hero felt a new surge of power flowing into him; it was so strong that he felt like shouting out:

"Diamondhead!" It was then the human now looked at his stone like body: from his hand to his feet. "So, I guess this is what that armband can do. "I want to give this guy and the others a proper workout. Do you know of a studio building that is not in use?" He questioned and got a suppressed snicker from the creature before him.

"Yeah…yeah, I know a place." He said before getting better with his laughter. "It's down that way a bit. Just look for numbers that are the same when flipped." He said before walking away while laughing his head off.

'I still think that guy needs to seek professional help.' The rock thought before walking in the direction he pointed at. After a few hours of searching the human saw what he may have meant. "69? What's so funny about that number?" Diamondhead questioned before walking in. Once inside, and turned on the lights the Petrosapian went to work on training. After experiencing the projectiles, club, and shield the trainer was impressed. "This is pretty cool." He said after calling back a diamond shield. As he tried another guy out Rita was growing concerned.

"Where is he?" She whispered while laying on the couch. "He knows that today is another free day, so why isn't he here yet." He whispered, but with a sigh she stayed where she was because the feline was trying to have more faith in the monster tamer.

"This is so cool." Ash said after trying out elemental creatures: Heatblast, Big Chill, Terraspin, and Arcticguana. The hero thought that they might do should he ever want to go back. As he went back to work by testing out another batch of five another one questioned about him.

"Weird. We usually find him by now." Lana said to their target. The trio still loved their fellow birds as much as they always have, but they really liked the conversation he had with them.

"Great. Another five that are great." A two legged wolf said as he had now tested the extent of ones known as. NRG, Ghostfreak, Thunderstein, Underwraps, and the body he was currently in - Lobo.

"I know that there are several more, so let's keep it up." Ash said after powering down only to activate the dial again for another batch.

"He's just running a little behind." Minerva said to herself as she stood in an open field while bouncing a Soccer ball on her head. After the Soccer game the two wanted to find out if it was possible to have a compete Soccer game with just two people, and she knew that he would never go back on his word.

"One Earth factor, three strength factors, and one flight class." A red ray said while staying in mid-air. The hero tried the Earth based moves of Armodrillo, the strength of Fourarms, Rath, and Humungousaur, and finished it up with the flight style of one called - Jetray.

"This is usually Ash's volunteer job." The leather skinned woman said as she fed her snakes by pouring Snack food in a big dog food bowl. This was one main reason she liked the kid's company was that he willingly fed her pets for her.

"These ones may be small, but they are crafty." Ash said as he stood in a small black and white body with Green electricity surging around him. The ones that he chose this time were at random: Wildmutt, Goop, Ampfibia, Spitter, Eye Guy, and his current body - Buzzshock.

"Time for a quick break." Ash said once he returned to normal. The Pokemon protector said and sat down for a bit. 'I know from those images I get as those guys that there's a stage after the one I'm in, but I don't think it's good to use that ability when just seeing what they can do.' He thought, and after five minutes the hero got back up and tried it again.

"You did what!" Dot shouted to her brother who had told his other siblings over what he did to their new friend. He knew that she had every right to be worried since no one has ever tested this device, but he mainly gave him that tool, so the hero could forget about his loneliness.

"He may need it if Plotz decides to use him in one of our cartoons." The pants wearing one said since he knew that the girls have been trying to do just that. Back at the training Ketchum has already used creatures calling themselves: Spidermonkey, Echo Echo, Grey Matter, Nanomech, and Upchuck.

"I still have no idea how this little guy is going to be useful." Ketchum commented after going back to Nanomech and wondered how a creature with the power to shrink and fire stingers were going to be useful in a fight.

"Hmm? Nothing in his physical can explain how he was able to do the things he's done." Hello Nurse questioned while going over the paperwork for Ash to find out how he was able to do those things when they were playing sports.

"These guys have good moves even though this one seems to be at a disadvantage in this room." Ash said as he stood in a body that had a yellow/black Zebra design along with a silver head floating in between two spikes. The other ones that he's used were beings known as: Water Hazard, Swampfire, Ripjaws, and Wildvine; all of which were powerful in their own right.

"I hope Ash's okay." Katie questioned as she sat in her room: waiting for the man in question. Ketchum promised her that he would help the young woman with her anger issues. Back at the studio the native to Pallet Town had just gotten through another batch.

"I can't believe that there are creatures THAT powerful in this little thing." Ash said while panting in exhaustion due to the power they had. These ones called themselves: Chromastone, XLR8, Brainstorm, but the more feared ones were - Alien X and Eon. 'It was amazing what I could do with those two forms.' He thought and decided another break was in order.

"I can't believe that you actually caved into doing that." The grey squirrel questioned to her old friend. The deer before her had aged down to young adult age, and the veteran cartoon character did not like it.

"Don't knock it till you tried it." The fawn said to the squirrel.

"I'll pass." The stubborn one said with her arms crossed, but for some reason or another her mind lingered to what the new guy would think of her younger form, but that was not what the hero was thinking in reality.

"These guys are definitely the strangest I've seen." Ketchum said as he stood in the form of a yellow/white pillbug. The others that he chose were strange ones as well: Stinkfly, Upgrade, and Ditto.

"Well, there's only one form left." The hero said once he was back to normal and was looking at the only creature he hadn't tried. "First is some food." He said while digging into his bag for food. As he did that the girls got out of their homes and all met in the lot.

"Where could he be?" Rita voiced to the others since she had a feeling that none of them were in possession of the kid. The others just gave a shrug since no one knew where he was, but one of them had another thought running through her head.

'That rat better not have backed on his word.' Queen Cobra thought since she once paid a visit to the Acme Lab with both of her pets circling around it to make sure that all of his attempts ended in failure.

"Maybe if we each take a section of the lot we should be able to…" The medical one was about to finish her comment, but was stopped by a loud crash from just around the corner.

"Way Big!" The hero shouted after tearing through the roof, and stood tall in a red and white body. "I really should rebuild that." He muttered before seeing something past a few buildings. "Hey, guys, what's up?" He questioned to them after bending to face them.

"Well, for starters - you." Katie said as she awed at the size of the giant before her. The hero looked at his body, and understood what she meant so after gently pulling his feet out of the hole he walked over to them.

"Sorry if I worried you." The human said after hitting the hourglass symbol on his chest. The others stared at him with wonder for a moment before one spoke out.

"That thing didn't harm you, did it?" The youngest Warner questioned out of concern which the others looked at him for the answer.

"No, it didn't. In fact those forms felt incredible. I can't wait to…use them around the studio." He said to them while trying to stay focused on his current location. They all gathered around him for a big group hug with the hero in question.

"We'll forgive you for not being with us when you should have, but you're going to have to make it up to us." Rita explained while purring happily in his neck.


	11. Chapter 11

Ash, and other characters are from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Animaniacs and Freakazoid characters are from Warner Brothers

Ultimatrix, and aliens are from Cartoon Network/Man of Action

Chapter 11

Ketchum's conundrum

After feeding the three of them along with the Girlfeathers Ash began to wonder the streets of the Warner Brothers studio. 'Must get home. Must get home.' He thought to himself - thinking that he had spent enough time here and needed to go back.

'The real question is - would you be happy there?' A voice questioned in his mind. This caused the physical body to sit in an ally and think. 'True, you aren't naturally from here, but the question is: did you have this kind of freedom back home?' The voice stated to the other half of the mind.

'Truthfully - no, but my Pokemon Master dream has not come to pass yet. I will come back here AFTER that duty is done.' The responsible side of his mind said back calmly.

'Sure. Sure, but what would happen if you can't get home after going home. How will the girls feel? Or more to the point: how would Rita and Runt fare since you know their background.' The other voice questioned which caused the responsible side to become quiet.

'I-I didn't think how they would react if I was able to go home.' The softer side thought in realization, and could not think of anything else to say. All was silent in the trainer's head as he tried to really decide if he was going to break their hearts or stop his dream, but that thought was cut short when he heard.

"Stay back!" A woman shouted causing the one in the ally to look up and see her falling from a building.

"Not on my watch." The hero from another world said as he ran toward her and slammed down on the armband.

"Humungousaur!" The brown dino shouted as he charged at the building. The nest thing the woman knew she felt leather all around her; it wasn't until the actress looked up that she saw the reason.

'What is this thing doing? This was supposed to be my big death scene.' The woman thought as she stared at her rescuer. The creature then lowered her down to the ground.

"Get to safety. I'll take care of this guy." The beast shouted before slamming the symbol on his chest.

"Spidermonkey!" The blue fuzzy one shouted before scaling up the building, not noticing the hollow thuds as he climbed it, and stopped at the top of the building. Back on the ground someone was watching him.

"Should I stop rolling, sir?" The man with the recorder questioned to his boss since this was not listed on the script.

"No, let's see where this goes." The other said calmly with a dismissal wave. Back on the 'roof' Ash had just now transformed into another form.

"Swampfire!" The green coated one shouted aloud. The man before him was confused since this was not what he read, but before anything could be said or done the redhead before him tossed a few seeds on the ground.

'Hmm?' The man before the hero thought as he stared at the seeds. It was then vines came from the seeds and coiled around him - immobilizing him.

"Now, stay put until the police arrive." The being before the actor shouted out before tapping the symbol on his chest and transformed again:

"Bloodrush!" The creature shouted out and glided away from the building and back where he started. "That's weird. I've never went this guy before." The bat said before sensing something behind him.

"That was incredible. I was only hired to oversee the latest Batman movie, but what you did was just great." The black haired man said to the hero who seemed confused at first.

"Movie?" The teen questioned before looking past the crowd and saw a lot of recording equipment along with a stunt double pillow by the building. This shouwed the hero that the woman would have fine without his help.

"Interested in starring in your own movie?" The man, who Ash realized now was Tim Burton, offered to the out of towner.

"I appreciate that, but I only tried to help because I thought someone was in danger. I'll go now." Ketchum said before activating his device, turned into a blue/black creature and sped away.

"So much for that angle. Looks like we're going to need that retake." The overseer of the movie said to the people around him. As they went back to work the speed creature made it to a different spot of the lot.

"That was kind of embarrassing." Ash said after changing back to his human form and leaned against a tree - grateful that it was real. With a heavy sigh the young man went to looking to see if one of his friends needed his help.

"No need for any help, Ash." Katie stated to the trainer in a calm tone after he went to her home and asked if there was something that she wanted. The blonde was happy that he had taught her to keep her cool, so she rarely, if ever, turned into a monster.

"Thank you for your time." The transformer replied back to her before walking off. He then went to the sewer to see if his leather skinned chum. On his way to the main area a rather large creature stood behind him. "Hey, big guy, is your mistress home?" He asked calmly, not bothered by the beast's appearance.

'That is one thing I like about this human.' The leather skinned one thought before guiding the mortal to the proper place. After going through four different pipes they found themselves in a large opening in the sewer.

"Hello, Ash, it's good to see that you are here to feed my pets." Audrey Manatee stated with a smirk since she liked the effort he put into pleasing his friends. He nodded and decided to feed them without the use of his alien forms.

'She would truly be a great snake trainer…just like Spike Queen Lucy.' Ash thought and stalled for a moment, but quickly went back to pouring the two their snake kibble. "Happy to help, Cobra Queen, but I gotta go." The human said before transforming.

"Goop!" As soon as the transformation was complete he jumped into the water and flowed away - into one of the pipes. He continued on his way until a storm drain passed his line of sight.

'I'm thinking of my own world again.' Ash thought after slithering through the drain and transformed back into his civilian form. 'Why shouldn't I think of my world since I was born there?' The boy thought with a sigh, but was interrupted by three familiar blurs.

"Catch us if you can, Ketchum." Dot shouted at him before joining her fleeing brothers.

'Maybe this will clear my mind.' The trainer told himself before racing after them. He used his basic monkey motions: climbing/leaping from gutters, running on the top of fences, and using any sort of obsicle to aid him for speed.

"This is his best time yet." The eldest said as he pulled a pocket watch out and saw that the new guys speed time was better then the last time they did this. Again another memory flowed into the youth's mind:

'Team Rocket helped me build my stamina due to all of their runaway tactics.' Ketchum thought and felt bad, but only for a moment before transforming again. In a blur of blue and black the three of them were cornered by a speed warrior.

"What do you call this guy, Ash?" The Warners three questioned as they took a good look at the new guy and could tell that it was not XLR8 in the slightest. The transformed man looked at his latest hands and knew that this one was knew.

'Strange, I could have sworn that I dialed up XLR8, but this isn't him.' The hero thought before answering with, "No idea, I guess the Ultimatrix is just wanting to show me some new faces." The triplets could have used a Pokemon referance, but they chose not to do it: for their friend's sake.

"You caught us fair and square so we will be going now." The eldest of the three said to their human friend. As soon as they faced the tower however a bright green light went off behind them.

"Echo Echo." The white skinned creature shouted before looking at the Unknown skin toned ones. "Still, I better follow you." He said and created a Secret Service barrier around them.

"I know! I know!" The glutton shouted in praise since he knew how to handle this. The creatures around him only starred as the devourer of everything spun in place, and when he stopped the hat wearing youth was wearing a suit.

"I get it, too." Dot said with a big smile before spinning as well, and that is what the brains of their team did as well. When the other two were done spinning they too were stylized in Presidential attire.

'Maybe I should have tried another style.' One of the sound manipulators thought before continuing to guide them to the Water Tower. Once there the Warners three used their elevator tactic, jumped over the railing, and went inside.

"I still wish I knew how they do that sort of thing." Ash muttered after reverting back to his human form. As the Pallet Town protector left for a different part he could only think of how knowing that secret would help in a gym battle. 'People would not be expecting a floating Pikachu.' The trainer thought with a smile before shaking it off. "Maybe some sky time will clear my head." Ketchum muttered before activating his device.

"Jetray!" The red scaled alien shouted before heading high into the sky. High above the clouds the hero flew around: taking deep breaths, looking at the scenery down below as a means to calm him down from these conflicting feelings. At first the plan did not work until he came across an ariel view of a familiar dwelling. "Maybe talking to Minerva will help." The alien said before swooping down for a landing.

'Ash, what is he doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see him, but his timing could not be worse.' The white furred beauty thought as she was doing some stretching and saw the glider had landed and transformed to his true self.

"Hey, Minerva…what's wrong?" He started out happy, but changed to worry when he saw her walk funny.

"It's nothing, Ash, I'm fine." The fuzzy one said back to him with a forced smile since the strain was getting the better of her. Naturally she saw that her comment did not change his facial expression.

"You are not fine. It looks like you pulled a muscle." He informed and she seemed surprised that he caught on rather quickly. "Come on, let's go inside. Maybe there's something I could do." He informed in a gentleman fashion as he opened the door for her.

'Keep your hormones in check Minerva, old girl, he's just being polite.' The beautiful woman thought to herself as she was surpressing her primal nature to mark her property. The two went inside and he helped her take a seat at her make-up station's chair.

"Just relax, and I will show you a trick or two I learned when dealing with this sort of thing." The human said to her before using the same massaging steps Suzie taught Brock and himself. In thirty minutes or so most of the minor muscle damage that she took was fading away.

'I feel twenty times better.' The attractive one thought with a sigh of relief as she felt more and more of her body returning to normal.

"How did all of your muscles get so tense?" The monster trainer questioned since he put the safety high on his 'to-do' list. He had his hunch, but he wanted her to say something.

"It was…um…you see…" THat was all she could think of since she did not wish to tell him that she had strainer her muscles from beating the crap out of the perverts around her.

"I get it." The catcher interrupted her before adding, "Rath will have a few words with some of your…admirers." The Mink got a good chuckle out of what he said. After fifteen more minutes of that sort of attention her pain was completely gone.

"Ah, thanks Ash. I feel much better." She said in an honest tone while raising from her chair. The two stared at one another for a moment, but in an instant she gave him a hug out of appreciation.

'This is unexpected.' The monster tamer thought as his body stood frozen over her sign of affection. 'This scent reminds me of the time I badmouthed Erika's perfume…only different.' He thought as he took a whiff of the white furred one's herbal shampoo that rests in her hair.

"Sorry about that. I'm just grateful of having my body back to full health." The blonde woman explained after separating from him. He gave her a kind smile before leaving: letting her know that he did not mind.

'I know it's early, but I think I better just head back to my house.' Ketchum thought as he simply walked back. When Ash made it to his temporary home a thought, the same thought as before came to mind, 'What am I going to do: if I stay I'll be happy, but I will never fulfill my dream. If I go everyone that I've ever made friends here will be devastated - I can't win.' The trainer tried to block that out and take a nap.

'I wish there was something I could do.' Rita and Runt thought as they saw the troubled face of their one and only owner, and wanted to make him happy.


	12. Chapter 12

Ash, and other characters are from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Animaniacs and Freakazoid characters are from Warner Brothers

Ultimatrix, and all alien forms are from Cartoon Network/Man of Action

Chapter 12

Problems on the set

It had been about a month and three weeks since Ash's wandering thought hit him strong, and since then he had done something totally new to him - be on a set: part of the act. 'That experience is seriously goin g to keep with me.' The trainer thought with a smile after he fed his two friends, The trio were about to relax in front of the TV until the phone rang. "You two go on over there." Ketchum said to them with a smile before going over to the horn.

'That thing is not the same without your lap as my seat.' The gray furred one thought as she walked over to the seat in question.

"Hello?" The Pallet Town protector questioned once the phone was raised. "Yes, Mr. Plotz, they're here." The human added after hearing the question from the man that gave him this roof. "I'll send them straight away." He said and hung up.

"What's wrong, Ash?" The canine of the duo questioned once the boy made it to the couch.

"Nothing's wrong, Runt, but for some reason Mr. Plotz wants to see you two in his office." Ash informed them causing the animals to become a little nervous. "I'll walk you over there CEO building." The hero suggested before picking Rita up, put her in cradle position.

'I wish I could have this feeling for days to come.' The former street-cat thought as she listened to the steady heart rate of the boy before her.

"Come on, Runt." Ketchum called out before walking to the elevator. Nothing happened on their way to the building, and when they got there the out of towner decided to part company. "He said that he wanted to see you two. So, I guess I'll just have to find something else to occupy my time." He said to them before transforming:

"Chromastone!" The purple themed rock said aloud before flying off. In the month he discovered that little secret and liked it. Without another word the two of them went into the big meeting room. In the room were all of their fellow workers from Animaniacs, Pinky & the Brain, and Freakazoid all asking the same question: what was going on?

"No doubt all of you are wondering why you are all here today." The white haired man questioned after walking to the podium, and took the mike in hand. "Well, the answer is I am here to discuss the Ketchum calamity." He explained to them rather calmly before waiting a few minutes for the someone spoke out:

"What do you mean by that?" They all questioned, but stronger from some than others.

"Relax, I meant nothing bad about that. It's just that he didn't do so well when we re-vamped some of out best moments." Thaddeus said before activated a big flat screen to show what he meant. "The first thing that we decided to do was add him to our movie - Wakko's Wish." He said while showing them the starting footage.

"I don't know why your showing us this. He did great on the movie." Minerva said as she that with a smile on her face.

"You just like that practically hugging scene." Hello countered with a humph since she wanted to be close to him on the movie; no offense to Doctor Scratchnsniff. At this moment Plotz came up to Ash's part after Wakko lost his hay penny:

"Good thing I remember how that glass blower did things." A marsh themed man said as he started up another glass sculpture after feeding the fire pit with a fireball.

"Should we be concerned about the others considering they aren't as gifted as we are." The crystalsapian: Diamondhead commented as he whittled away at another figure.

"Ah, here's the moment I was talking about." Their boss said as he showed off the moment after the big song about the wishing star.

"You ladies are planning on sledding all that way?" Ash questioned to the three females in question which caused them to look at him oddly; like he was making fun of their plan. "I got just the thing." He said and disappeared into his workshop, but reappeared just as quickly. "One of my buyers - Hugo Jackson gave me this in payment of that life sized wood sculpture of that weather witch." The human explained before tying their sleighs to his ride.

"I don't get it. You have the Ultimatrix, so why are you taking a bike when you could just fly up there." The grey furred cat stated to the human before going over to the wagon.

"Where's the fun in that?" Ketchum questioned back with a smile of nervousness.

"You used it's power through the night. Didn't you?" The whited furred one stated to the hero who just rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness.

"Anyway this will work, but I may need a bit of weight on my bike just in case." The maker said to them and in that instant Minerva hopped onto the seat. "That answers that." He admitted before sitting before her and riding off.

"Everything looks okay so far." The minks that watched this commented with a smile while her fellow female workers glared at her with daggers.

It's not that part I'm worried about, or this one." Plotz said before activating the scene after Pinky's lover destroyed the bridge.

"The bridge is out." Ash said to his tagalongs before looking at a button on his left handle. 'I hope I know what I'm doing.' The hero thought before pressing the button and at that moment they went much faster.

"Now this is moving." One of the sleigh riders said as she too felt the surge of speed. Ketchum saw the gap closing in on them, but he decided to tell them something.

"The problem is that I don't think we can make this jump without jettison something." The humanoid animal heard his comment and decided to do something about that.

"Sorry, nothing personal." She said to her female friends before cutting the line. In doing so the bike was able to make it, but the others were slammed into the other side of the chasm.

"I can assume that we're not at the dreadful part." The smart mouse questioned and received a nod from his boss. They watched the: Warners being gunned down, saving the mice, and the avalanche; which went differently:

"Yes, your fully charged." Ash said while riding his bike, after deactivating the high speed mode, and slammed down on the Ulitmatrix.

"Humungasaur!" The tan lizard shouted before running as best as he could so he could collect as may as he could before the splash down. The capture scene went the same even though the hero in him only wanted to smash the tools of the villain, but luckily he restrained himself.

'I liked this part.' Chicken Boo thought as he saw and remembered the Trainer stop by everyone to make sure that they were alright. For that the bird was happy that someone cared about his well-being.

"The giant lizard wasn't the bad part. We still have a ways to go, remember." The CEO said before continuing the feed, and that's when they saw it: when Dot got cannon blasted.

'My…friend. My…no, his fault.' Ash thought as he adjusted his sight from the tearjerker scene to the king responsible for it all. 'Must pay.' He thought before activating the watch.

"What was-." The king started to speak, but was cut off by a orange/black wall of muscle.

"Let me tell you something, King Salazar no body hurts Rath's friends without getting a major beating!" The cat shouted before twisting the man's ankle almost all the way around.

"He was only doing that because I was hurt." The youngest of the three said before pointing and showing herself stopping the cat from ripping the king's leg right off.

"True, but there were other moments." Plotz said as he showed them an altered version of 'This pun for hire.' Everything was the same - Ash even played the role of a modern Sherlock Holmes, but the thing that didn't go over well was the slide part.

"Humungousaur!" The hero shouted even though the human was trying for something else. The Warners three got through, but the dino got his body stuck: his head made it through, but his body was still on the slide.

"Still not that bad." Yakko said with that usual strain at the start. They watched as Minerva appeared on screen and asked for the bird followed by her: 'I'm packin a heater' line, but that's when something new happened.

'Not gonna happen.' The lizard thought before ripping away a small piece of the slide to activate a new form.

"Goop!" The green slime slide through the hole and then he slammed the symbol again.

"Swampfire!" The plant/fire class man shouted before summoning a fireball and pointed it at her. "Let's see how a heater stands up to a fireball." He said before seeing everyone wear gasmasks. "Come on. Swampfire can't smell that bad." The trainer questioned before sniffing his own armpit.

'I guess that part was pretty bad.' The mink thought since she didn't like Ash to raise a hand to her; even though she had a feeling that it was mearly a bluff. She then returned to the cartoon.

"Minerva, watch out." The nearly immortal man said before activating a new form.

"Watherhazard!" The clam headed man called out before looking at his hands, and muttered, "The one time I wanted Rath, but I can still make this work." That said the water alien leaped up and fired a gatling water blast move to force the girl's attacker away, and after landing began to treat the assailant like a punching bag.

"Yo, anyone but me wander if the kid actually wanted that water-guy." Pesto hollered out for all to here, and at that moment the entire room just went cold due to the girls since they knew he was not like that.

"Let's move onto the episode shall we." Plotz said since he wanted to avoid this awkward moment as quickly as possible. They watched the rest of the episode until Ralph grabbed Minerva's tail which earned him a visit from the angry one.

"Let me tell you something: security guard Ralph playing the role of a fat bongo player, just like Rath told those dirty people - nobody touches the hot Mink while Rath is on the job." The tiger shouted to him, and the viewers watch him perform the wrestling moves on the round one.

'Okay, so Rath is a little defensive.' The group thought as they looked in the back of the room and saw Ralph in a body cast, and the King in a leg cast that went all the way up to his pelvis.

"Since we have shown that alien twice I will show you a couple that don't have the cat on them." Thaddeus said to them and showed off a couple of Freakazoid episodes, and the first one was - Sewer or later. The story played out the same until it came to fighting the snakes. The first battle went:

"Don't worry Freakazoid. I can handle this." Ash said, causing his hero instincts to go before his logical side.

"Echo Echo." The small white alien called out before dividing into three men. "Okay, now for part two." The main clone said before the three of them changed again.

"Thunderstein!" A tall monster said as he stood in the river of waste.

"Ampfibian!" A jellyfish man said as he stood on the right side of the tunnel.

"Brainstorm!" A big headed crab shouted on the left side of the tunnel. The trainer would use Buzzshock, but his size was a reason why he wasn't there. "Here's a charge of electro-magnetic might that I know you'll get a charge out of." The crab said as the three of them attacked, and thanks to stein Freakazoid was safe from the electricity coming to him.

"Simple misunderstanding." Cobra Queen said as she relived the footage while trying to defend the cutie. He heard her and continued with the second snake.

"Big Chill." The blue moth shouted out as to fight the second snake. "On second thought maybe this will do me better…" The insect said before slamming the symbol again, "Ultimate Big Chill." He shouted once the evolution was complete.

"He did thaw him out after the take, and nurse him back to health." Cobra Queen countered as they all watched their handy man fire freeze the bigger snake where he stood.

"That's all well and good, Audrey, but Ash just doesn't get that all we do is pretend. He still thinks its all real, and if that doesn't maybe this last bit will." Plotz said as he gave them the last bit of his presentation. The moment he showed to them was the episode - Two against Freak.

"Humungousaur!" The tan one shouted as he and Freakazoid arrived on the battlefield. "You take on those two, and I'll handle my distant cousin." The Vaxasaurian said before going into battle.

'So, I won't be electrocuted this time.' The snake thought before charging as well. The two had a bit of back and forth with the trainer trying to remember the moves Lucy used on him, and when that failed:

"Time to go Ultimate!" He shouted before slamming the symbol on his chest and after a few moments his transformation was complete. "Ultimate Humungousaur!" He shouted and immediately tried slamming both fists downward on the snake, but he caught them with his tail.

'Now what are you going to do.' The opponent thought, but only grew concerned when the now green scaled man smiled.

"Surprise!" He shouted before transforming his hands into missile launchers, and opened fire. It was then the feed cut out due to a rouge shot taking out the camera.

"As you can see Ash is a hero first and an actor second. He did all those fights out of hero instinct. Dispite his time with us the young Trainer still doesn't get how we do things." Plotz said to them calmly.

"So what do you plan on doing?" Rita questioned to her boss even though a not in her stomach for what he was about to say.

"For the moment…I haven't got the foggiest, but this was to show that Ash is best used as a stage hand and not part of the actual stage." The CEO man said to them calmly which put most of their fears to rest.

"What will you do when you do have a plan?" They all whispered once he gave them the go ahead to leave. Ash on the other hand was still high in the air: not even thinking what went down below him.


	13. Chapter 13

Ash, and other characters are from Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Animaniacs and Freakazoid characters are from Warner Brothers

Ultimatrix, and alien forms are from Cartoon Network/Man of Action

Chapter 13

Plotz's decision

"What to do? What to do?" Plotz questioned aloud in his office as he paced in circular fashion - trying to figure out how to deal with Ash and his hero tendencies. "I can't do anything too drastic since he has been there for us." The CEO muttered as he recalled the times he has been there for them, or some of them: such as when he decided to be a medic.

"Ash, you mind taking C. Jack to the Nurse. He seems to be floating wrong." Steven said to the multi-talented man who also saw the specter lean more to one side than the other.

"Sure thing." The human answered back, and was about to transform until he realized how much damage he could do in those alien bodies; Remembering that the boy simply escorted him to the studio nurse.

"Hello, Ash, what brings you here?" The blonde human questioned when she saw the handy-man and one other walk into her office.

"CJ seems to have a problem. I think it might be his leg." Ash said as he guided his ghostly friend to the table. The spirit laid down and just stared at the ceiling.

"Good guess, but Candle J doesn't use his legs, so it can't be that." The nurse said in a calm tone even though she did like his guess.

"Actually that's not completely true." The man in question said causing them both to look at him. "One time I went bowling with the guys, but they gave me a restriction - no floating, so I gave it a shot and on the last few throws I felt something wrong with my ankle, but I shrugged it off. Good eye, Ash." The rope master commented with a smile on his masked face.

'He is good if he could guess the problem at a glance.' Nurse thought before getting to work. Not having anything better to do the monster tamer remained there and watched her work. True he has seen Nurse Joy and Brock in action, but not a people doctor, and the one doctor that he met didn't really work on people while he was there.

"I was wondering if you could show me a thing or two about this." Ash questioned to the medic once Candle Jack left on his own. The woman gave it some thought, and then nodded in agreement. "Great, I'll be here tomorrow morning." He informed the young woman before racing off to do more deeds.

'I never really taught my profession to anyone before.' She thought, but decided to give it a go anyhow. True to his word Ketchum got there early by skateboard, and after putting it out of harms way the two got started.

'I'll give Brock this much despite his flirting method he was a good study to balance learning to be a breeder, take care of his brothers and sisters, and be a Gym Leader at once before partnering with me.' Ash thought after a few weeks even though he was doing well for himself.

"A name of my own?" The medical one questioned to her student after hearing his question. "I've been called 'Hello Nurse' for so long that I never really considered anything else." She admitted to the out of towner. "Still, I think I would like an actual name. What do you have in mind?" She said to him which caused the monster tamer to think a bit.

'Hmm, she has a point I've never really named everything before - mainly because the names that I pick are kind of lame. That's why I never name my Pokemon when I catch them.' The human thought before going deeper into thought. "How's…Helen for a first name sound to you?" The raven haired man offered to his teacher after some thought.

"Helen?" The teacher repeated and after some thought she had her answer, "I like it, but what about a last name?" Once again the hero of Pallet Town went back to thinking.

'I don't know anyone's last name back home, so I'll just have to wing it.' Ketchum thought and began thinking of random names. "Perhaps…Nurthen." He offered to her with a little haste in his voice.

"Nurthen is a bit strange, but it's a strange that I like." She answered back to him with a smile which caused him to smile as well. The two went back to studying, but as they did so, purely out of friendship, there were others that were seeing green.

'So, Ash wants to help the injured. I can do that.' A few girls thought after hearing through the grapevine that he was studying to be a doctor.

"Thank you for everything, Helen." Ash said to his teacher once he believes he has learned everything he needed to learn. Just as soon as the trainer was about to roll out Longhorn came running in his direction.

"Ash! Hey, Ash!" The bull-headed man shouted to their handy-man in alarm. Hearing this the man in question turned to the creature and asked:

"What's the problem?" The man caught his breath and then spoke, but the blonde haired woman could hear something off in his answer, but didn't know what.

"It's Cobra Queen - she collapsed while holding her ribs." He said in a rehearsed tone. The moment the Trainer heard that he went for his watch.

"Jetray!" He shouted after selecting a speed hero, and flew off to her place.

"Man, that's a relief - he bought it." The minotaur said before feeling the eyes of the human were upon him. "Uh…I mean that is to say…I gotta go!" He said to her in a hesitant tone before running away as fast as he could.

"Ghostfreak!" The human said once he got close enough to her home, and then phased through the ground to her sewer home. As his friend said the snake woman was in pain.

"Are you alright?" The mortal questioned after changing back to his civilian form and walked over to the leather skinned one in question.

"I am not sure. For some reason my torso just started to hurt." She said to him even though the messenger only said ribs. The hero believed that it may have spread, and even though he forgot to bring supplies the boy went to work just the same.

"I'll see what I can do." He said to her while stroking her face to comfort her, and after he received a nod the Trainer went to work. Now knowing that that was a set up Helen tried to contact her friends of the situation and location not knowing that was a bad move.

"So that's where he is." Minerva muttered after hanging up the phone. The mink then decided to use the walkie talkie that Ash had on him. 'Please pick up. Please pick up.' She thought while listening to the other end.

"Ash, here, what's the problem?" The Poke-world native questioned after answering the other end.

"Ash, it's me Minerva, could you come over here. I think I twisted my ankle when getting out of bed. Must have tripped on my own tail." The furry one explained before hearing his reply.

"Remain where you are. I'm on my way." The hero said and deactivated the device before realizing that he still had a patient. 'What do I do now?' The human thought before looking at his Ultimatrix. "Got it." He said before activating the watch.

"Echo Echo." The alien called out before dividing into two. "One of us will stay and care for you while the other one goes sees what Minerva wanted." One of the clones said to her before the other transformed.

"Big Chill." The clone called out and flew away while the other transformed back into Ash and tended to his leather skinned chum. "There's Minerv's home." The blue insect said before gliding down to the ground, and changed back to normal.

"Minerva, It's me – Ash. I'm coming in." The copy Ketchum commented before going in, and he saw her lying by her bed. "Are you alright?" He questioned to the human sized fuzzy.

"No, my ankle is seriously throbbing." She answered back to him and played the in pain role perfectly. The monster tamer knelt down and did what he was trained to do – carry her to her bed, wrap the offended limb with a cloth, and put some ice on it.

"That should do it, Minerva. Is there anything else?" Ketchum stated and questioned to the furry one out of concern.

"I wouldn't mind if you would stay with me for a bit." The sly woman said with a mental smile since she believed that only Cobra Queen and herself was doing this stunt. It was at this moment his talkie went active.

"Pardon me." He said to the latest patient before answering his device. "Ash here; what's up." He said to the person on the line.

"Ash, there's something wrong with Dot. Come quick!" Yakko shouted into the device causing the helper to become a little worried.

"Echo Echo." The hero called out after hearing the shout out.

"Fasttrack!" The one to the left said and sped away while the other clone returned back to normal, and watched over her.

'Blast, guess Dot is getting in on this action.' The attractive animal thought, but appreciated that he stayed by her side. The speed creature was in the tower in no time at all.

"What seems to be the problem?" The speed factor questioned to the Warners three.

"We don't know? She suddenly started wailing in pain?" The eldest of the three said with a shrug to the handyman. He became human again and started to analyze the young woman.

"I'll see what I can do." The hero said to them before seeing what the problem with this one was. The hero tried various tactics to see what was going on, and in the middle of that his communicator went off again.

'No, not now. I just about had him.' Dot thought while listening to the communication.

"Whoa, Skippy, slow down. I can't understand chipmunk speed." Ash said to the informant.

"It's Aunt Slappy! She…I don't know what's wrong I just found her on the floor - out cold." The young squirrel said back to the big brother causing him to be very alarmed.

"I'll be there fast." He said while racing to the door, and as soon as he leaped over the railing he slammed the head, but something was wrong.

"Way Big!" The red/white one shouted out before looking at his hands. "This mix-up I don't mind one bit." The transformed trainer said before walking along. In no time at all he got to the tree and transformed back to human.

"I hope she is still with us." The boy muttered before walking in to see what he could do. The boy looked around and saw that the younger mammal was hunched over the older mammal. 'Something's not right.' He thought while waking over to the two.

"Ash, you're here!" The nephew exclaimed in excitement.

"Yes, so what seems to be the trouble." The out of towner questioned as he knelt down to the fallen one. Skippy filled the hero in as he went to work about checking his aunt's vitals.

"Everything checks out good…actually better than good. Her body seems to be better than her charts told me the other day." The doctor in training stated while taking another look and could swear that she's a little taller than normal.

'Did she cave and take the medicine?' The young one thought as he realized that Bumbie looked an awful like how she did in that movie, and now that he himself looked closely his own aunt looked different.

"Not sure what to do, so let's move her into her room, and let her get some sleep." The handyman said to the child as he lifted the body up and carried the aunt to her room. Neither of them noticed the smile that formed on the grey one's lips as he was doing this deed.

"But you said that we were going to let her rest? Aren't you going to make sure that she is okay?" Skippy questioned once they put the woman in question in bed and left.

"I said that I would let her rest, but I said nothing about abandoning her." The boy said before repeating what he had done before by using Echo Echo, and having one of them transform back to him.

"Well, I'm heading back to my apartment to think about this." The second Echo Echo said before changing to a flyer.

"Stinkfly!" Once the transformation was complete he walked out the door and flew away. The insect made it all the way back with not even a buzz from his walkie talkie which was good since the hero needed to process this.

"Four damaged friends in a single afternoon. This can't be a coincidence." The hero muttered as he collapsed on his bed. Rita heard that familiar sound of body hitting bed, and decided to walk into the bedroom.

"Everything okay, Ash?" The feline questioned to her…owner. He looked over the side of his bed and saw her sitting there and looking up at him. He needed a friend so he picked her up and placed his…roommate on his chest.

"I don't know Rita. Cobra Queen, Minerva, Dot, and even Slappy claims that they are injured, but I saw no damage at all." He said to his friend the current problem he was facing.

'This classic bit.' The cat thought since this was a classic ploy to get some one on one time with the hero, but she thought it best for him to figure it out for himself. The hero had his clones stay with the girls and everyday he used the com link feature of the Ultimatrix to see if anything was different.

"Everything the same as it has always been." The clones said to him for the next three weeks which was only causing the clone handyman a bit nervous.

"Try this. When you let them get some rest - observe them and find out what they might be hiding." The human in the apartment stated to the others and received words of confirmation. With that plan on the table the group each took a form that would seem the least noticeable: Cobra Queen - Snakepit, Minerva - Lobo, Dot - Ghostfreak, Slappy - Wildvine. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary until the fuzzy one caught sight of something from outside Minerva's bedroom window.

"Lobo to all points." The canine whispered after pressing the logo on his chest so he could communicate with the others.

"What is it, Lobo?" The Ash clone with Rita and Runt questioned back.

"Her problem is just an act. Minerva is using her bad arm for a fitness exercise perfectly." The wolf said back and that was when the others reported in.

"Snakepit here, and Cobra Queen is fine. I'm watching her flawless contortionist routine right now." The alien snake man said as he hid in a pipe in the scaly one's throne room.

"I can beat that - Slappy is done with her nap and just sitting in front of the boob tube." Wildvine said as he surfaced his head from the inner walls of her wooden home. "We were right about one other thing - she is younger. I'd have to say Minvera to young adult at best." The plant added to his report. Ghostfreak had something similar to say about Dot which got the one in the apartment to start thinking.

'They played me.' Ash thought and felt hurt since he believed that they were above such cheap tactics. "To all units - transform into a flyer, and take them here." The Ash clone said to the others. They did as followed: Jetray for Cobra Queen, Terraspin for Minerva, Stinkfly for Slappy, and the Dot watcher had nothing to worry about since Ghostfreak was already a flyer.

"What's the big idea, bug?" Slappy said as she was just getting used to smelling everything again, but was now assaulted by the Lepidopterra stench.

"Sorry, but this is kind of urgent." The insectoid said to the now young grey squirrel as he continued to fly.

"At least I got an enjoyable ride." Minerva said to the two as she and the Geochelone flew up beside them. 'Wow that age regression stuff really does work. Guess she really likes Ash.' The white furred woman thought as they continued to fly to their destination. As they got closer there were two more pairs of people to complete the set.

"You gals too?" The youngest of the Warners questioned as the Ectonurite carried her by the arms. The two nod in agreement, but the fourth girl seemed to irk them.

"And here I thought it would be a nice one on one time with Ash." The snake seductress said with Jetray having his tail wrapped around her waist which was a motion the other three did not like.

"Come on my fellow flyers we gotta meeting to get to." The Aerophibian said to the ghost, turtle, and bug who nodded in agreement. The group headed to the room of the building they were instructed to go to.

"Good. They made it." Ash said as he opened one of the glass windows so they could come inside. When that went off without a hitch the human clone gestured for the four to have a seat on the couch.

"Time for a meeting of the minds." Stinkfly informed them once all clones were shoulder to shoulder. As soon as the winged man said that the four changed into Echo Echo, merged, and became Ash again.

"So…you were keeping an eye on all of us?" Minerva questioned while rubbing the back of her neck since she did not like that look in Ash's eyes.

"Yes, I was, and I have to say - I am disappointed in all of you." The trainer said to them causing all of them to feel uncomfortable. "I can't believe that you did this to me. I thought with my time here you four would know that I would always be there for you, but for some reason each of you decided to pull this. Why?" The hero said to them and calmly waited for an answer.

"I guess Minerva…I mean Dot was…It was all Slappy's…" Audrey tried to make an excuse, but that look of betrayal in her friend's eyes caused her to be truthful. "We were greedy. We each wanted you for ourselves." The snake then clasped her hands together and then hung her head in defeat.

"Look, I care for all four of you equally, and I would like to keep this friendship going, but not if you lot are willing to pull stunts like this. So, how about you girls don't do that, okay?" Ash said to them with his usual soothing smile which cheered them up a bit.

"We promise." The four said to him in sincere tones. He nodded, and to make sure that the others were okay with what he said the trainer gave them each a light hug - which they accepted.

'I think that worked out rather well.' Ketchum thought after they had left to go back to their homes. Unknown to anyone was the fact that the four had other plans two of their favorites involve shape-shifting their savior and shrinking him, but in hindsight those ideas seemed more like keeping Ketchum as a pet instead of a lover.

"And then there was the time during that torrential rain." Plotz said and recalled how Ash went to work that day.

"It's getting pretty bad out there, don't you think?" Ash questioned as some seriously heavy rain washed over their studio.

"Yeah, I guess so, but at least we're safe in here." The cat said causing her canine chum to throw in his two cents.

"Definitely, definitely safe. Especially since Plotz really weather proofed this room." The big dog's comment caused the trainer to look at him with a questionable look on his face.

"Which would make this the ideal room to be in until this storm passes." Ketchum theorized to the others. The feline slammed her paw on her forehead out of aggravation.

'So much for a quiet time with Ash. I should have known better.' The street-cat thought with a smile on her face since she knew that was just the kind of man he was.

"Don't want to catch a cold." Ash said to himself before transforming.

Water Hazard!" The Orishan shouted before taking to the elevator. The alien made it all the way down, and once there the hero scanned around. "Hmm, that van might help." The trainer said before walking over to it; thanking luck that it was unlocked and that the keys were hidden in the visor. "Time to retrieve the others." The camouflaged Ketchum said before driving off; grateful that he also decided to take up driving while he was here.

"Who's driving out in this weather?" An earlier Plotz said as he heard the purr of an engine outside. The short human walked over to the window, looked down, and saw a large white van by a street light with a clam headed man standing beside it. "Oh, him." The CEO said once catching sight of the hourglass on his chest.

"Ah, a friendly face." The psychiatrist said as he looked out his office window and saw the vehicle as well. Just like Thaddeus he too walked down to the ride.

"Ever the gentleman." Helen said with a smile after catching sight of the vehicle. The three met up and went into the machine. Once they were buckled the hero moved onto his next stop - WB tower.

"They don't seem to answering my honks." The hero said as he parked beside the object and started honking his horn.

"I'm sure their safe up there." Plotz said as a way for the hero to move on, but the Pallet Town protector did not take that as a good answer.

"I'll be right back." The red/black warrior told them before getting out of the van, and climbing the metal structure. Once at the top he opened the door, and went inside. The Warners saw the handyman walk in, and wondered what was up.

"Something wrong, Ash?" The garbage disposal questioned to the hero after he and his siblings came over to him.

"There's a storm out there. I'm moving everybody to my apartment." The out of towner explained white transforming back to human for the moment. The three huddled together and talked amongst themselves for a few minutes.

"You got it, Ash. We'll go with you." The eldest of the three said to him and added, "And we know how protective you are so…" With a spin trick the three were now in yellow ran jackets, hats, and boots.

"Thank you. Now let's go." He said to them causing the three in question to race to the open door, and leap off of the ledge, but instead of going straight down the three deployed parachutes. "That was unexpected, but I have something like that." The boy said before transforming into: Diamondhead - leaped off the ledge, and landed with no problem.

"This isn't what I wanted, but it worked." The Petrosapian said before walking into the van. The Warners followed his lead, and joined their friends in the metal device.

'Why does she have to be there?' Dot thought once she saw the medic of Warner Brothers studio sitting in the front passenger seat. The little sister sighed in defeat and got into the machine.

"Hmm? It seems that we're dragging for some reason, but there are no warning lights on the console." Diamondhead stated while scratching that boulder he calls a head. The others that this was another one of the things they liked about him - he was simpleminded.

"Ash maybe if you deactivate the Ultimatrix or at least change to a lighter form." Thaddeus offered to the transformed trainer who suddenly realized that he was still in the living boulder form.

"Sorry about that." The alien said before slamming his symbol to become human again. With that done they continued on, and at first there didn't seem to be any problems anywhere…that was until they got to Acme Lab.

"Looks like Brain put in that new swimming pool he wanted." Yakko joked when they saw that the inside of that stone building has flooded.

"No, it's something far worse." Ketchum countered as he used his aura ability to see if there was anyone inside, and he saw at least six bodies. "I'll be right back." He said to them before activating his arm band to become:

"Fasttrack!" The new alien shouted before speeding into the laboratory to grab those endangered creatures. In a moment he the black/blue alien stood in between the building and the vehicle with the creatures in his arms.

"Wow." The group in the van said in awe at the sight of how quickly he got the job done. The speed hero just stood there and looked at the machine. The medical maiden knew what the problem was, and knew what to do.

"Easy fix." Helen said while pressing a large van icon causing the vehicle in question to transform from a mini-van to an actual van. The fast man then zipped in and put the horse in the back and handed the smaller creatures to Dot before returning to his driver's seat.

"Now, that's cool." The Citrakayah said before returning to his human form.

"Is everyone buckled?" The trainer questioned to his passengers and got various forms of 'yes' the traveler carried onto his next stop. They traveled until they came to a cul-de-sac like area which held basic buildings and the Goodfeather's favorite statue.

"Allow me to guess: you are going to save them as well." The evil gerbil stated to the human even though the fuzzy one already knew the answer. Ash smiled before transforming into a durable form:

"Chromastone!" The purple crystalsapian shouted before walking out of the machine, and near the statue. "Hmm, I know they lived near this statue, but where?" Camouflaged Ketchum said while looking around, but did not see them. This caused the hero to almost give up until something caught that cyclopean eye of his. 'There they are.' The man thought before going up to them.

"Troz! He sure can climb, Brain!" The tall one shouted out as they all watch the beanpole of a boulder climb a tall tree. Once on the recommended branch he moved his hands to shield the seven from the wind.

"This nest isn't going to last for very long. Please, come with me." Chromastone said to them in a calm tone before gently picking up the nest with his free hand still shielding them from the wind.

"Who the heck is that!" Bobbie shouted in alarm when he caught sight of their savior. The others felt the same, but that soothing voice gave away of whom he truly was.

"Good to see you again, Ash?" Lana questioned since she was still wondering if that was really him. The creature nodded and leapt off of the tree, and once on the ground he journeyed back to the van and put them inside.

"You guys stay here. I'll go get the others." Chromastone informed them before transforming again:

"Heatblast!" The Pyronite shouted, and started running off. Despite the rain the flaming man's fire body evaporated it before the drops hit him. "I know that they're at the top floor, and I'm pressed for time, so let's try something new." Ash said before channeling his fire power to the ground beneath him to create a small floating island, and when that island was formed he headed off.

'It sure is coming down out there.' The mime thought while sipping at a cup of hot coco. He and his roommates were just weathering the storm through reading books or sewing up disguises that have been damaged over time. The calm moment was blown away when a flaming man appeared on the other side of the window.

"Uh…sorry guys." Heatblast said when he saw the three rush under the coffee table out of fright. "But you need to climb aboard and come with me to my apartment just in case." Their savior explained; the trio looked at one another, and after a silent nod the three opened that window before climbing aboard.

'This is kind of exciting.' Chicken Boo thought with a smile as he and his friends glided over to the van. When the three got in the machine was once again crowded causing his navigator to press another icon – this time in the shape of a bus.

"Please take your seat. We're moving onto Katie and Mindy's families." The driver explained before driving onto that area. Surprisingly the drive was pretty peaceful despite the seriously heavy rain outside the metal walls.

"It's good to get out of the rain." The birds said as one as they dried themselves off. The team came to a nice neighborhood area where the trainer knew that last two would be.

"Here they are, and I better get them." Ash said, but instead of using an alien the boy simply got an umbrella out from the glove compartment, got out of the bus, opened it, and headed off to the first house.

"Why didn't he use his alien forms to get them, or pull right up to their door?" The brown themed bird said to the others out of concern. Everyone heard him, but most of them didn't know the answer themselves.

"For one he did not wish to scare Mindy since most of forms are quite scary, and he probably did not wish to scare Katie into transforming and attacking him and the bus." Plotz said to the group of the best response he could think of.

"Not to mention since the lawns are so soggy he probably didn't want to damage their yards." The eldest of the Warner siblings said to the others which also seemed like Ash since they could picture him also reseeding the spots that he ruined.

"I appreciate of you not transforming on me." The trainer said to the transformer beside him as they walked from their house to Mindy's home.

"No trouble at all, Ash." The young blonde woman said with a blush. The teen did enjoy how optimistic he was with everyone he meets. The group made it to the next house, knocked on the door, and waited for an answer.

"Oh, Ash and Katie: what are you and your family doing out in this weather?" The mother of the young adventurer said to the group in a compassionate tone.

"I'm just making sure that all of the friends that I have made are safe. Would you please come with us?" Ketchum said in a calm tone to the mother. The elder thought of it for a moment before responding.

"Of course, Ash, we would like to come with you. Mindy, Buttons come along – we are going to spend some time with Ash." The mother said into her home causing a brown dog and a blonde haired child to come over to her.

"Well then, let's go." The trainer said after giving them the time to change into rain resistance jackets. Both families and the handyman made it to the bus, they got in, and they were off to their next spot.

"So, where to next, Ketchum?" The female mouse asked as they drove along.

"Only a few more stops, and then back to my apartment for good food and drinks." The raven haired youth said back to her as he drove off to the woodland area. In an instant the group knew where they were.

'This is Slappy and Minerva's area. Guess he wants to save them too." Helen whispered to herself as they continued on the forest route. The group came to Slappy's home first.

"Wildvine!" The florauna shouted once Ash slammed down his armband. In a moment the plant climbed out of the vehicle and melded with the tree. Just like on recon the man was able to slip into the hallow tree even though it often did tingle.

"What brings you here?" The now young squirrel said to the plant man after he lad pulled himself free from the wall. After a quick shake of the head the transformed mortal decided to tell her what he had told the others.

"Because of how dangerous this storm has become I thought it best for all to relocate to my apartment." The Venus Flytrap with attitude said to her causing the younger woman to think that it was just the two of them.

'It's that kind of thinking that almost caused you to lose this relationship the last time.' The logical side thought to the rest of the mammal's mind. After a deep breath she knew exactly what to say.

"We would love to." She said politely before shouting in her usual fashion, "Hey, Skippy, we're going to Ash's for a bit." In that nano-sec the boy in question dressed for the occasion, and was standing at their feet.

"Ready." He informed them with a big grin. The three of them walked out, got in the bus, and they were off to the next stop - Minerva. The group got over there, and the traveler was about to go hero while outside, but the device wouldn't work.

"Here, just take this." The teen blonde said to him while tossing an umbrella to the soaking wet trainer. Once he caught it Ash opened it and, headed for the door.

'Hope she's not too proud of leaving.' Ketchum thought after arriving at the door. After opening the door a crack he saw that the mink's roof was leaking a lot.

"Oh, hey Ash. Wh-what brings you here?" The mink said to him while trying to pretend that there were no holes in her roof. He smiled out of good nature for her attempt before speaking.

"I can see that you aren't having a good time here, ya know, trying to maintain your situation, but I'm gathering all of my friends so they will be safe." He said to her in a calm tone. "I promise that I will help repair any damage once this storm passes." The trainer offered after seeing her reluctance.

"I'll take you up on that offer." She said back before looking down at the offered arm which she happily look. The two of them walked back to the umbrella, and as they walked the white furred one wanted to rest her head on his shoulder until she saw how close they were to the bus. 'I better not.' She thought before getting inside and taking her seat.

"Who next?" The psychiatrist questioned to the trainer as they were moving onto the next stop.

"Since the storm seems to be getting stronger I think I'll visit one home, and then go with high speed rescue." The rescuer said to his friend before heading over to where the hippos were living. 'Big place.' He thought while looking up at a skyscraper, and that's when the boy realized that the taller the object the better for a lightning rod it makes. 'Got to work fast.' Ash thought before stopping and leaping out of the vehicle.

"Way Big!" The To`kustar shouted after Ash had summoned him. The giant then decided to get to the point. "Flavio, Marita, and loyal giraffe worker your building is in a terrible lightning spot. Please come with me to safety." The white/red one bellowed the ones in question went to the door, but saw nothing wrong.

"I believe that booming voice is…how you say - joking with us." The blue hippo said to the two girls and birds.

"Forgive me, sir, but I don't think so." The long necked one said to her employer when the two looked at her oddly she pointed up at the strange white overhang. They saw that the arm was connected to and saw a giant.

"She's right, I'm real. Now - climb onto my other hand, and we can go." The alien said while moving his free hand over, and let the group get on. Once they were on he cupped his hands together, and carefully bent down to the vehicle.

"Darling, could you push us in." The pink one questioned the hired help once the two were stuck good. The herbivore tried her luck, but the giant did it for her with little effort.

"Let's get going." Ash said, back as a human, before boarding the bus.

"What about all the others?" The cautious birds questioned as they were on their way.

"I'll get them myself. You guys head back." Their savior said before going for the arm band.

"Echo Echo." The Sonorosian shouted before dividing into three. Two of them leaped out of the vessel and went for the speed forms while the third one went with one with a tech factor.

"Upgrade!" the black/green one shouted before melding into the machine. Once bonded he transformed the bus into a Men In Black themed speed vehicle. The bus parked and the Galvanic Mechomorph created a cover between the two doors.

"Ash!" The grey furred one shouted excitedly when she heard the door begin to open, but slightly sulked when it was everyone except him. 'Is that?' Rita thought once the crowd has passed and she saw Upgrade walking in. "Ash, there you are!" The singer exclaimed in excitement.

"Easy Rita, I'm just a clone of your Ash. This time I divided into three: two of me went to get the others while I sent these three here. The feline felt a little crestfallen after hearing that, but accepted it none the less. In no time at all the other two speed demons got the others, and were heading back in the forms of the two giants: Way Big and Humungousaur.

"Here we are guys." The leather skinned man said to them as he carried his group. When they were close enough Upgrade opened the windows allowing the two to slide them into the apartment.

"Jetray!" The two shouted before gliding into the openings. When they were all in the mechanical expert closed the windows behind them.

"Looks like you did good." one of the flyers said to the goo-like being before changing back to Echo Echo, and merging back into one.

"Time to tend to their needs." The hero said after returning to his human form. Plotz recalled how he did everything possible for the others to forget about the storm, and at one point had Thunderstein stand on the roof and take in the lightning heading for this building. The CEO still had a jobt to do as he uttered…

"His deeds are all well and good, but that does not change things. I'm afraid I must…"


	14. Chapter 14

Ash, and other characters are owned by Gamefreak/Nintendo and Cartoon Network

Animaniacs, Freakazoid, and Tiny Toons characters are owned by Warner Brothers

Ultimatrix, and all aliens are owned by Cartoon Network/Man of Action

Chapter 14

Ash's departure and a note to remember

"Send him away." Plotz finished his comment while looking out the window with a sorrowful look on his face. As he began to make contact with some friends of his Ash was at Minerva's place - repairing the damage from the storm as he had promised.

"This weather-proof sealant ought to keep." Ketchum said to his friend after filling in the holes in the young one's roof. The Trainer then proceeded to put in carpet squares since her old carpet was too badly damaged.

"Thanks for this, Ash." The mink said to him as she tried not to stare at his exposed upper body. The man put up the last piece of them, and walked over to her with a smile for his accomplishment.

"This should do you, Minerva. See ya." He said to her as he placed a hand on her shoulder before heading out to his apartment. The fuzzy one smiled at the fleeing human, and was grateful that he had come to their world to change them for the better.

'Thank you for coming, Ash Ketchum - hero of Pallet Town.' The seductress thought before going into her home to feel how the new carpet felt in between her toes. As the human just walked back to his home: enjoying the scenery a phone call was being made at his home.

"What's that sound?" Rita said as she was napping on the couch until a typewriter sound came to her ears. The fuzzy one got off the seat, and walked over to the phone, and saw the add-on that Brainstorm made was active. "He…he can't mean this?" The former orphan kitty muttered after reading what the man had said on his end. In desperation she tried to hide the evidence…or at least get rid of it.

"Guys, I'm home." As said once he made it to his apartment. The two shouted their own forms of praise of seeing him home. 'They're acting oddly.' He thought before seeing that in the main area didn't look to hot. "I knew I should have cleaned up the moment they all left." He said while sighing in defeat, but he simply got to work of straightening his home.

'I hope he doesn't see the note…definitely, definitely, don't want him to find it.' Runt thought as he watched his owner clean up from their friend's visit. The raven haired youth continued to clean until he spotted something…strange.

'What's this?' He thought after spotting something under his bed. Curious the traveler reached under his sheet and pulled out a piece of paper.

'Oh no.' Rita thought once she saw that he was holding the item that she tried to hide. The human glanced over it and his eyes widened in alarm.

"This is from Mr. Plotz and he seems to need me." Ash said after glancing over the note. "Before I go…" He started to speak before returning to cleaning his temporary home. "Now, off to see what he wants from me today." He said before heading for the door.

'I hope it isn't what I think it is.' Rita thought with fright as she watched him leave. In no time at all he arrived at the necessary spot, and went into the office. The white haired man turned to see the handy man walk in before issuing him to the chair.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, Ash." The CEO said to him with a troubled look on his face.

"What seems to be the trouble?" The Trainer questioned calmly since he could clearly see that his short friend seemed to be in some form of trouble. "You know that I'll help you out when ever I can." He informed the manager of the grounds.

"That's what I was counting on, Ash. Because the problem is - you." Plotz said back to him with a sincere tone. The reason for his trouble confused the human since to the wanderer it made no sense at all.

"Me? What do you mean?" He questioned to him in pure confusion since he did not believe that he did nothing wrong. "Is this about all those things I did with my alien forms?" He questioned in honest tone.

"There's that, and the fact that you do not understand our logic." The owner said to him with a sorrowful tone since he did not want this youngster to take his statement the wrong way.

"So…should I go somewhere else, or do you guys have a way to get me home?" Ash questioned back with a great deal of himself not wanting to go home for some reason or another.

"We don't want you to go, and besides we have yet to find a way to get you home." Plotz said back to the boy causing both to sigh in relief for a moment. No, the idea is for you to go to a special school that might help you in learning how we do things here." The head of EB said to the handyman causing him to be a bit on guard.

"School?" Ketchum questioned back and even though he had been to several during his travel, but a school about learning how they did things just didn't seem to appeal to him.

"Yes, a magnificent school called - Acme Loonaversity. I have already spoken to the principal there, and he would not mind a new mind to teach." The blue suited business man said to their helper. As he went on about the school the secretary was listening to the whole thing and decided to tell everybody: male and female alike.

"So, that's his plan, is it?" Minerva muttered to herself after getting the news. "I know he will not say 'no', so I better go with a Plan 'B'." She added before getting in contact with her fellow female co stars.

'Shame that he has to leave, but he's not leaving without a party.' Yakko thought after getting the news and decided to rally the guys of organizing an Ash themed party. Back in the office the monster tamer was feeling a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing.

"If you think I should go then…I guess I should." Ash said to Thaddeus with a stall in his voice since he really did not want to leave his friends behind. The boy knew that it was the best plan though since he did not want Rath to smash someone by accident again.

"Of course you should. I'm going to give the others, and you the day off because tomorrow you leave for Acme Looniversity." The CEO said to him and with a nod of the head the two parted company and Ketchum headed back to his apartment.

"Well, this is shaping out to be a very bad day." Ash said once he got back and plopped himself right onto his bed. His two closest friends could only watch as he was sulking about the news of leaving.

'At least it has nothing to do with him going home. Just around that school.' The gray furred one thought with relief before countering with, 'Wait a sec. There's still Penelope, and with her strained relationship with that skunk she may use Ash as a comforter.' That got her fur to stand up on end out of anger and fear.

"Looks like you guys are on your own for a while." Ketchum said after rolling from face-down to face-up. "Mr. Plotz wants me to go to a place called the Acme Looniversity." The hero explained even though he had no idea that they already knew that much. Just as he was about to go to sleep the trainer's phone rang.

'Now what?' The cat thought when she heard that noise beside her. Out of anger she hopped onto the table that the machine was sitting on, and pressed the speaker phone. "What do you want?" She questioned, not even trying to hide her pained tone in her voice.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Rita, take it easy. We know that he's about to leave for the school. The secretary told us while he was seeing the boss-man." Yakko said to the feline as a way to try to calm her down.

'The others know about this?' Ketchum questioned in his mind as he heard that part of the conversation.

"So, why did you call?" The singer questioned out of aggravation.

"The guys and I are wanting to throw the kid a party before he leaves tomorrow. So, is he there?" The eldest of the three said back to her in a serious tone. The man in question heard that and decided to get to the phone so he could answer that question himself.

"This is Ash, Yakko. I would indeed like to go to the party, so where is it?" Ketchum questioned calmly after picking up the phone, and placing it to his ear. "Okay. I know where that is. See you there." The trainer answered back, and hung up the phone.

"I guess your going then." The cat questioned and the human could see that both held sad faces: expressions that showed him that they just wanted him to spend the day with them.

"I'm afraid so, Rita. If they went through all the trouble to create a last minute party then the least I should do is show up." He said back before picking her up from the phone table. The only thing the singer could do was stare into his eyes when he brought her eye level.

'Oh, man. I love looking into his eyes.' She thought in a dreamy tone before listening to what he had to say about the party.

"I promise Rita that I will leave so that the three of us can sit down together and watch a movie." The hero of aura said to her in a sincere tone. The cat could hear that he meant what he said, so she nodded as an answer. "Cool, I better get going." He said before putting his friend down and headed for the door.

'I can't wait.' Rita thought as she watched him leave. The two then went back to the couch and decided to wait for him there. Fifteen in the phone rang again causing the cat and dog to look at one another in confusion. "Who could that be?" The singer questioned aloud.

"I'm guessin Ash is already gone to the party?" The youngest of the three questioned the person that had just now answered the phone.

"Yeah. Not to long ago, Dot. Why do you ask?" She asked back and could only think that the child wanted more attention just like before. Her answer was something totally different.

"I wanted to talk to you. Me and the rest of the girls are at Minerva's place, and we're trying to come up with an intimidating note for Ash to take with him. A simple statement that would tell the girls that Ash is already spoken for." Dot answered back, and to the cat that actually sounded like a worthwhile idea.

"Sounds good to me. Runt and I'll be there." She said to the young lady before hanging up the phone. "Come on, Runt. We've got a friend to see." She said to the dog.

"Coming Rita, and I'm glad you're happy." The lovable lug said back to her as he walked over to the feline. Once close enough she hopped onto his back, and after a little problem with the door the two of them headed for their friend's house.

'What to write down so that Penelope knows that Ash only has room for one cat?' Rita thought as the two were in the elevator on their way down. Ash on the other hand had gotten to the chosen room.

"This must be the place." Ash said before looking around and saw a television with various consoles and video games, pool tables, and even half of a Basketball court. "Nice work fellas." The trainer said to his new found friends.

"We do our best, Ash. So, what do you want first?" Huntsman questioned as he continued to sport that big grin as he ever has. The man in question scanned around before making his decision.

"Hmm…how about that one?" Ash offered to the others while pointing to a Mega Man game that stood on top of the PS2. Freakazoid and friends looked at each other in a nervous fashion since they did not know if the Trainer could handle a robot themed game rather well.

"Maybe we should play this game instead?" Pinky said as he tried to carry a disk game that was similar to what he was used to: Digimon World 3. As soon as the Pallet Town protector looked at the container his eyes were focused on the canine of the cover.

'Strange. It feels as though I should know that dog.' Ketchum thought before shaking his head. "Thank you, Pinky, but I would really like to play this if that is alright with you." The human said to them, and since they knew that he would not take no for an answer the group nodded in agreement. "Cool," Ash said before putting in the Anniversary Collection disk, and sat down on the couch.

'I sure hope he knows what he's doing.' All the guys in the room thought as they watched him play the first of many Mega Man games. As he played his games the girls were together and were trying to figure out what to write on the note.

"How should we start this off?" Helen asked the others since she did not want it to start off too mean. With that the girls started throwing ideas around before actually writing it.

"Okay…so he's better than we gave him credit for." Cave Guy said to the others as they watched the Trainer speed through Mega Man 4. None of them expected or even guessed that he was this good at Video Games, but to their surprise - he was.

"Almost got it. Almost got it." Ash said as he was battling Dr. Wily with Mega Man as he used the Pharaoh Shot. In the end he won, and watched the end credits go by. "This is fun and all, but I don't want to miss out on any other activity." The guest of honor said before looking at the arm band and realized one crucial thing. "I can still transform." The boy muttered before getting to work.

"Ditto." The black and white alien said once the glow was gone. The multiple creature pulled out one double and headed for a different part of the play area. His friends split into two groups, and decided to continue to play with him.

"So, are you ready for some Basketball, Ash?" Longhorn questioned the small creature before him. Ash knew that the form that he was in was not built for combat, or anything like that so Ketchum was praying that they would allow him another quick change.

"Do you guys mind. I need to pick a different form for this." He offered to them and after receiving a nod of agreement the short man pressed the logo on his chest to transform into a different fighter.

"Water Hazard!" The water based man shouted before looking at his hands. "I was hoping for a strength factor, but this form should do just as good." He muttered before going to the court. Before they could start the second Ditto decided to say something as he played Mega Man 7.

"Remember Ditto has the side effect where each clone can feel the others pain. Not sure if it applies since your in a different body, but be careful." The Splixson said as he started to fight - Junk Man.

"I understand. So, you ready to do this, Longhorn?" The red armored alien questioned before grabbing a ball, and headed to the court. The minotaur followed him and got ready for a little one on one.

'I hope I can take this guy.' The semi driver thought since he saw how skilled the human was as a human, but now that he was an alien he was even deadlier. The two began playing, and the both of them were actually having a good time. The girls on the other hand was still having trouble with the note for their…friend to give to the school.

"That's a little too far there Slappy." Minerva said as she saw all the swearing, and death threats on the grey squirrel's letter. The others nodded in agreement as well, so they tossed out her plan, and started from scratch again.

'What a bunch of softies. The best way for them to know that Ash is taken is with that kind of message.' The bomb expert thought before saying aloud, "Since you don't like my ideas then I'm gonna leave it to you. I'm outta here." Once that was said the aunt left to go to her home.

"You have to admit that some of her ideas aren't half bad." Cobra Queen stated to the others and saw the glaring so she added, "Maybe we should try them after watering them down a tad." After hearing this the girls thought it over and decided to give it a shot.

'Okay; he's good. This guy might not be using the water moves of this guy, but I'm still having a hard time to best him in Basketball.' The bull thought as he was down twenty points. Water Hazard thought this a a learning experience since he was often hit a couple of times, and the Ditto on the couch, who had moved onto the start of the X series, didn't wince once.

'That's something new to know.' The Basketball player thought as he was now playing against the Huntsman. As the hunter was playing the others were watching as Ash was battling in Mega Man X 6 which to most at the studio is the most…unique game of the series.

"Yes, this should get the point across without scaring the girls half to death." Katie offered to the rest of them once they had agreed on a note and had also typed it out. "Let's give this to him in the morning." She offered, and after some thought they decided to do just that since they all wanted him to have fun before he had to leave.

"Whoa that creature after the final Sigma was tough." The gamer said as he had bested Lumine a third time with Axl since Wakko and his older brother Yakko wanted to have all three girls as playable characters.

"We really appreciate this, Ash. We really do." Both of the brothers said as one as they each shook both of his hands. Ketchum knew how those two were and knew that they had their reason for having the girls as playable characters, but as long as their thoughts weren't about his friends then he was okay with it.

"No problem at all, guys. Happy to help, but I think I should head to bed. After all I have a big day tomorrow." The humanoid said before gesturing his double to join him, and as soon as the sequel changed into Ditto they merged together before becoming human.

"Good luck on your first day kid. I'd make friends at school, but that's just me." Cosgrove said to the hero who nodded in response and headed for home. Once there he saw that the cat and dog were still right where he left them - on the couch. As agreed the three of them watched a movie, and fell asleep in front of the television.

'That was a wonderful dream.' Rita thought as she was slowly waking up from a Beauty and the Beast dream with her as Belle, and Rath as Beast. The first thing that the cat heard was that of silverware hitting dishes. 'Hmm?' She questioned before poking her head over the back of the sofa to see what was going on.

"Oh, good morning, Rita." The trainer said to her as he was doing something in the kitchen. Even the curious creature she hopped off of the seat, and over to the area he was in. Runt was also waking up, and saw that she was moving so he followed her.

"What's he doin, Rita?" The bulky one questioned to her as they watched the human hard at work at something. The two got closer and saw that he was making food, and judging by all of the containers on the counter he had been doing this for a while now.

"Let me guess? You guys are wondering why I'm doing this?" The hero questioned to them as he gestured over to the containers beside him. Once they nodded he decided to tell them the truth. "I'm preparing food for you two while I am away since I'm probably going to remain near the school." The two heard him, and accepted it…or at least Runt has.

'I don't want this.' The cat creature thought while looking away from the human that took her in. As always the kind hearted one could see that she was still not happy about this decision, so he decided to comfort her.

"Hey, Rita. I don't want this either. Heck, I would love to be here with you at the studio." Ketchum explained after kneeling down, and adjusted her head to face him. "I promise I'll be okay." He said to her in his usual soothing voice which caused her to calm down a bit.

'He's just too good.' The girl thought with a mental sigh of relief. He then fixed them Breakfast, and ate it with them; as soon as they were done the phone rang.

"I'll get it." Their friend said as he rose from his chair, and for the phone. "Hello, Ash Ketchum speaking." The human said as soon as he picked up the phone. A moment or two later he answered back. "I understand." With that said he hung up the phone, and turned to them.

"Bad news." Runt questioned in a simple-minded tone as he could see the sad expression on Ash's face. His female friend on the other hand knew why he was so down in the dumps.

'I thought that I would have more time with him.' The singer thought in despair. Without saying a word the Trainer grabbed his pre-made backpack and headed for the door.

"We better get going." The monster tamer said to the two, and after hearing that the both of them followed. Nothing was said in the elevator, or on the way to the main entrance where the others were waiting. Each of them shook hands, high five, or hugged him in line from furthest to closest to the entrance.

"Oh, before I forget. Take this with you Ash, and give it to the Principal. Tell him to make a copy for all the teachers there." Minerva said after giving the warrior a long hug since she did not want it to end. Ash took the paper said one last good-bye and then left on the bus.

'I hope they will be okay.' Ketchum thought after taking his seat since this was a part of his journey that he hated: leaving a friend behind. Still with Plotz being of a higher authority the Pokemon Trainer had no other choice then to do as he says. He slept through most of the trip at least until he made it the destination.

"So, you made it, Ash. Good to see you Ash." A tall gray rabbit said to the trainer as soon as he was out of the bus and facing a rather large building.

"Do, I know you?" Ash questioned in return since the only rabbit, or rabbit-like creature he knows of are the Nidorans. This man on the other hand was completely new to him.

"Can't say that you do. Name's Bug's Bunny." The adult said with an outstretched hand and a happy smile. Sensing no danger in this the human accepted the handshake. "Come on, I'll show ya what your in for." The principal said after they parted hands, and he gestured to the door.

"I would like that, but a friend of mine wanted me to give this note to the principal, and ask him to make a copy for each teacher here." The out of towner explained as he pulled the note from his pocket, but before he knew it Bugs snatched it out of his hand.

"Kid, I'm the principal of Acme Looniversity." The clever creature explained to him with a sly smile on his face. With a single whistle, which was made with his index finger and thumb in his mouth, a bird that seemed like a single head version of a Dodrio appeared before them. "Hey, RR, ol buddy - I need you to make me about fifty copies of these and toss them around to all the faculty." The leader of the school said as he gave the bird the piece of paper.

"Meep Meep." The bird said before speeding away. The two of them headed inside, and that's when the rabbit began to sing:

"Our faculty is like no other the Looney Tunes of Warner Brothers. Will now proudly demonstrate tricks that will help you animate. There's wild takes." Bugs said as he showed him a pig who screamed with a sign on the end of his tongue.

'Odd.' The trainer thought before listening to him continue.

"Exploding cakes." Bugs said as he gave him a dynamite cake to a man with a thick red mustache. Out of instinct the hero was about to transform until a boom came to his ears and the shape shifter saw that the man was okay. "Anvil dropping." BB said as he showed a canine use a drink umbrella to stop a simple anvil.

'I could have stopped that too.' Ash thought with a sigh.

"Villain Whopping!" The principal said as he opened a door of the same name.

"Bad ol putty tat." A yellow bird slamming a shovel on the head of a cat who shattered into a million pieces.

"Imitations are a must if your to win a bad guys trust." The head of the school said as he leaned in close to the hero as he wore an old fashioned hunter's hat.

'Too bad that works better with Team Rocket to me then me to them.' Ash thought as he heard that latest part. "Anything else, Mister Bunny." The boy questioned as politely as possible.

"No, there's classes ducks will find appealing like for instance - spotlight stealing." Bugs said as he tied a fake bill to his mouth and then gestured to the broom closet.

"It's mine! It's mine! Whoo-Hoo what luck!" A black duck said as he came through the closet while holding some sort of spotlight in his hands.

"I think I know that guy - Daffy Duck?" Ash questioned which caused the creature in question to get in close and reply with:

"Even though your kind of little I'll teach you how to spray your spittle." The mallard said not knowing that the boy changed from human to Ripjaws.

"Thanks for the shower." The Piscciss Volann said as he was gently sprayed with spit. The fish then found himself get dragged back to the front, and since there was no danger the Pallet Town protector changed back to human form.

"Thank you Mr. Bunny with all my heart." Ketchum said to the tall rabbit.

"You'll be okay if you use your smarts." The wise man said while pointing to his own skull. "So now my song is almost through welcome kid to Acme Loo." Bugs said before adding, "Come on. Let's get you properly registered." The two of them headed back inside, and all through the song Road Runner copied and handed the paper out just as agreed.

"What nonsense is this? An average Joe had earned the affection of Minerva? I think she's gotten desperate because I thought she had higher standards than that.' An independent female bunny thought after reading the note not knowing that he would have that affect on other people.


End file.
